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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  USE  O 


HOW  TO  SAVE  ANT 


EDWIN  A. 


KUKD>-      M-i/  LS  OF  CH' 
INI  'VIDI' 


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THE  USE  OF  MONEY 

HOW  TO  SAVE  AND  HOW  TO  SPEND 


By 
EDWIN  A.  KIRKPATRICK 

Author  of 

flwdamemtals  op  child  study.  tfenetic  psychology 
Thk  Individual  in  thk  Making,  Etc. 

2  7  3^^ 


CHILDHOOD    AND    YOUTH    SERIES 

Edited  by  M.  V.  O'SHEA 

PRnrsssoR  of  Education,  Univbksitt  op  Wisconsin 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright  1915 
The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 


PBESa    OF 

BRAUNWORTH    k    CO. 

BOOKBINDERS    AND    PRINTtRa 

BROOKLYN,    N.    Y. 


HGr 
KCp3 

EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

Parents  have  always  had  more  or  less  trouble  in 
the  financial  training  of  their  children;  and  there  has 
probably  been  no  aspect  of  family  life  which  has 
been  the  cause  of  greater  strain  and  stress  than  the 
problem  of  the  child  and  his  money.  The  problem 
has  grown  more  acute  in  our  country  with  the  de- 
velopment of  urban  life,  until  to-day  it  has  become 
imperative  for  the  welfare,  alike  of  the  family  and 
of  the  community,  that  there  should  be  some  in- 
telligent plan  systematically  followed  in  dealing 
with  the  child  and  the  youth  in  relation  to  the  earn- 
ing and  spending  of  money. 

Present-day  family  life  in  the  city  is  not  well 
adapted  to  give  children  a  right  understanding  of 
financial  operations  small  or  large.  Probably  the 
great  majority  of  city  children  do  not  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  events  have  experiences  which  im- 
press on  them  the  value  of  money  and  the  need  of 
restraint,  or  at  least  of  reasonable  economy,  in  ex- 
pending it.  In  many  homes,  and  the  number  seems 
to  be  increasing  constantly,  the  children  easily  gain 
the  notion  that  anything  they  want  or  that  is  re- 
quired for  the  maintenance  of  the  household  can 


editor's  introduction 


be  secured  by  telephoning  for  it.  Those  who  spend 
the  funds  of  the  household  ordinarily  do  not  pro- 
duce them.  In  the  city  children  usually  do  not  come 
into  contact  with  the  workers  of  the  household  when 
the  latter  are  exerting  themselves  to  earn  the  money 
with  which  to  pay  the  bills.  When  the  father  is  at 
home  the  children  tend  to  regard  him  simply  as  one 
member  of  the  household,  and  he  makes  little  or  no 
impression  on  them  as  a  producer.  When  their 
requests  for  money  are  not  readily  granted  they 
tend  to  look  on  the  one  who  controls  the  resources 
as  "mean"  or  "stingy."  When  one  has  not  put 
forth  effort  one's  self  as  a  producer  one  can  not 
easily  take  the  point  of  view  of  the  one  who  has 
earned  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  who  is  dis- 
posed to  expend  the  results  of  his  effort  only  for 
necessary  purposes.  Further,  when  children  are  in 
no  way  responsible  for  meeting  the  obligations 
created  by  the  household,  they  can  not  realize  the 
necessity  of  being  cautious  about  incurring  obliga- 
tions. It  was  different  in  an  earlier  day,  however, 
when  the  children  lived  close  to  the  parent  who  was 
working  to  secure  money,  and  when  they  heard 
every  one  around  them  talking  about  not  contract- 
ing a  debt  until  one  had  the  money  to  pay  for  it. 
Then  they  gained  experience  which  enabled  them  to 


EDITORS   INTRODUCTION 

interpret  a  dollar  in  terms  of  actual  work;  that  is, 
they  learned  to  appreciate  the  value  of  money. 

The  writer  has  had  the  confidence  of  some  parents 
regarding  financial  experiences  with  their  children. 
Here  is  a  more  or  less  typical  case.  A  man  now 
forty-five  years  of  age  has  acquired  a  reasonable 
competence  by  hard  work  and  thrifty  habits.  He 
has  a  family  of  four  children,  the  oldest  nineteen, 
the  youngest  eight.  In  order  to  make  his  wife  and 
children  happy  and  to  save  them  from  hard  work  of 
every  kind  he  has  provided  them  with  an  attractive 
home  and  has  willingly  paid  their  bills  up  to  the 
limit  of  his  capacity.  But  with  growing  years  the 
demands  of  his  children  have  constantly  increased, 
until  now  he  can  not  meet  them.  Until  recently  he 
has  never  discussed  any  business  matter  in  his  house- 
hold. It  has  been  the  custom  for  his  wife  and 
children  to  telephone  for  practically  anything 
they  wished  and  order  the  bill  to  be  sent  "to  the 
office."  As  a  consequence  they  have  come  to  feel 
that  the  chief  trouble  involved  in  securing  what 
they  wish  is  in  telephoning  for  it,  or  in  waiting  to 
have  it  made  or  delivered.  That  some  one  has  had 
to  earn  what  they  have  expended  has  not  been 
deeply  impressed  on  them.  The  father  has  found  it 
necessary  of  late,  however,  to  talk  to  his  children 


EDITOR  S   INTRODUCTION 

about  their  expenses,  but  he  does  not  appear  to  be 
able  to  induce  them  to  take  his  point  of  view.  He 
is  beginning  now  to  feel  that  they  are  quite  unrea- 
sonable in  their  demands  and  that  they  show  no 
gratitude  for  what  they  receive ;  and  he  is  coming  to 
see  that  they  are  very  poorly  equipped  to  do  any- 
thing for  themselves  or  to  keep  their  expenditures 
within  proper  bounds.  It  is  inevitable  that  hence- 
forth in  this  household  there  should  be  a  good  deal 
of  disturbance  over  the  question  of  adjusting  ex- 
penses to  resources. 

There  are  other  types  of  homes,  especially  in 
rural  sections,  in  which  children  are  from  the  very 
beginning  so  oppressed  with  the  difficulty  of  getting 
money  that  they  never  feel  any  freedom  in  expend- 
ing what  funds  may  come  into  their  possession. 
Not  infrequently  one  finds  a  home  in  which  the  am- 
bition of  all  its  members  seems  to  be  concerned 
mainly  with  saving.  Again,  there  are  households  in 
which  the  one  who  earns  feels  so  keenly  the  trials  of 
his  work,  while  at  the  same  time  those  who  consume 
what  he  produces  appear  to  him  not  to  be  sharing 
his  burden  at  all  or  to  be  appreciative  of  his  labors, 
that  he  can  not  discuss  any  other  subject  in  their 
presence. 


editor's  introduction 

There  is  still  another  type  of  home  in  which  the 
young  are  made  aware  of  what  it  requires  to  secure 
money  and  are  given  some  training  in  its  proper  use. 
In  such  a  home  the  children  get  experience  more  or 
less  beneficial  by  employing  money  to  secure  things 
of  real  worth.  They  are  made  to  realize  that  excess 
or  wastefulness  can  not  be  tolerated;  but  at  the  same 
time  they  are  not  made  so  inhibited  in  regard  to  the 
use  of  money  that  their  energies  are  largely  spent  in 
mere  saving  and  in  trying  to  eliminate  trivial  ex- 
penses. 

There  are  many  questions  which  both  the  parent 
and  the  teacher  must  consider  in  training  the  young 
so  that  they  can  earn  and  use  money  in  an  intelligent 
and  efficient  manner  as,  for  illustration :  How  early 
should  children  be  given  the  money  with  which  to 
buy  the  things  they  desire,  and  should  they  be  re- 
quired to  make  the  actual  purchases?  Should  there 
be  much  discussion  in  a  household  of  the  sources 
and  amount  of  the  income,  or  should  "business" 
be  kept  out  of  the  home?  How  can  the  wage-earner 
in  a  family  best  lead  the  consumers  to  understand 
what  he  has  to  do  in  order  to  secure  the  family 
funds?  Should  children  be  made  aware  of  the 
character  and  amount  of  the  expenses  of  the  house- 
hold day  by  day,  and  should  they  compare  outgo 


EDITOR  S    INTRODUCTION 

with  income?  Should  they  actually  see  the  bills  as 
they  are  presented?  If  they  are  paid  by  check, 
should  the  children  write  the  checks?  Should  a 
child  be  given  a  certain  amount  which  he  may  ex- 
pend according  to  his  desires,  and  should  he  be 
limited  in  his  expenditures  exactly  to  this  allow- 
ance? If  children  are  given  a  definite  sum  each 
week  or  month,  will  they  come  to  expect  this  as  a 
right,  and  will  this  lead  them  to  think  that  the  funds 
are  supplied  from  heaven,  and  no  one  has  to  earn 
them?  Does  it  preserve  more  intimate  and  natural 
relations  between  child  and  parents  for  the  former 
to  go  each  time  to  the  latter  for  money  to  secure 
what  he  desires?  Is  it  possible  to  overemphasize 
with  children  the  necessity  of  saving?  Should  they 
be  impressed  with  the  desirability  of  developing 
productive  power,  rather  than  of  taking  too  much 
thought  about  saving  in  details  ?  How  early  should 
children  be  required  to  earn  money,  and  in  what 
ways?  How  can  the  work  of  the  school  extend 
and  reinforce  the  training  of  the  home  in  giving 
children  a  knowledge  of  the  value  and  proper  use  of 
money?  Should  children  in  the  manual-training  or 
domestic-science  departments  of  high  schools  re- 
ceive pay  for  their  work  if  they  can  sell  their  prod- 
ucts?    Will  the  keeping  of  regular  accounts  of 


editor's  introduction 


receipts  and  expenditures  help  to  make  a  child  con- 
scious of  the  relation  of  income  to  outgo,  and  the 
need  of  always  preserving  a  proper  balance  between 
them? 

It  is  the  purpose  of  The  Use  of  Money  to  dis- 
cuss in  a  concrete  practical  way  the  above  questions 
and  many  others  of  similar  character  and  equal  im- 
portance. Professor  Kirkpatrick  has  long  been  a 
careful  student  of  the  financial  training  of  the 
young  and  he  has  made  special  investigations  for  the 
present  volume.  A  large  number  of  adults  have 
answered  his  questionnaires  relating  to  their  experi- 
ences with  money  when  they  were  young,  and  the 
results  of  different  methods  of  instruction  and  train- 
ing. Any  parent  or  teacher  who  has  not  himself 
made  a  special  study  of  the  problems  considered  in 
this  book  could  hardly  fail  to  receive  pleasure  and 
profit  from  reading  it.  If  the  practical  principles 
presented  herein  could  be  generally  observed  in  the 
home  and  in  the  school  the  oncoming  generation 
would  have  a  better  comprehension  of  what  money 
means  and  better  habits  in  regard  to  its  expenditure 
than  have  the  majority  of  the  young  people  we  see 
about  us  who  have  received  only  incidental  training 
in  regard  to  these  matters. 

Madison.  Wisconsin.  ^-  ^-  O'^"^^' 


PREFACE 

This  work  is  the  outcome  of  experience,  observa- 
tion and  investigation  as  a  parent,  citizen  and  an 
educator,  and  is  intended  to  be  useful  to  these  vari- 
ous classes  of  persons.  A  few  years  ago  the  writer 
was  asked  to  prepare  a  paper  for  study  classes  and 
chose  for  his  topic  The  Financial  Training  of  Chil- 
dren. The  interest  shown  in  the  subject-matter  of 
that  paper  led  to  a  request  that  he  prepare  a  small 
volume  on  the  subject.  The  author  has  taken  pleas- 
ure in  so  doing,  Part  I  being  intended  especially  for 
parents  and  Part  II  for  teachers.  It  is  hoped  that 
more  attention  will  be  given  to  the  question,  now 
rapidly  growing  in  importance,  of  proper  financial 
training  of  children  in  the  home  and  in  the  com- 
munity. No  attempt  has  been  made  to  formulate 
fixed  rules  to  be  followed  in  all  cases,  but  instead  the 
principles  involved  are  set  forth  so  that  plans  may 
be  intelligently  made  in  dealing  with  individuals 
under  varying  conditions.  That  this  work  may  be 
of  some  assistance  to  those  who  are  helping  to  fit 
the  younger  generation  for  the  life  of  to-day  is  the 
wish  of  the  author. 

E.  A.  K. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Part  I— Home  Training 

I  Importance  of  Financial  Training  ...  1 
Need  of  studying  the  problem — Growing 
importance  of  money  in  present-day  life — 
Use  of  money  less  evident  to  children — The 
real  place  of  money  in  life — The  broader  sig- 
nificance of  earning  and  spending — The  prob- 
lem of  giving  financial  training. 

II    Dex-elopment  of  Ideas  of  Money  ...        9 

Early  ideas  of  monej' — Concrete  rather 
than  general  value  appreciated — Idea  of  cost 
of  money  often  lacking. 

III  The  Usual  Financial  Training  of  Children      18 

Much  of  the  training  incidental — Moral 
training  often  given  by  parents — Knowledge 
of  family  affairs  as  a  means  of  training — 
Ownership  as  a  means  of  training — No  defi- 
nite training  in  money  affairs — Various  inci- 
dental and  intentional  financial  lessons. 

IV  Financial  Joys  and  Sorrows        ....      32 

The  child's  wishes  sliould  be  respected — 
Examples  of  pleasing  and  painful  money  ex- 
periences. 

V    Spending  Money 36 

Knowledge  of  spending  precedes  that  of 
earning — Freedom  in  spending — Methods  of 
spending — Amount  of  money  should  be  lim- 
ited—  Immediate  and  delayed  spending  — 
Usual  ways  of  spending — Spending  and  will 
training. 

VI    Getting  Money  by  Irregular  Gifts     ...      46 
Most  children  receive  money  as  a  gift  ir- 
regularly— Tips  not  suited  to  American  chil- 
dren— Gifts  versus  definite  payments. 


CONTENTS— Con/t«ufd 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VII    Regular  Allowances 52 

Fixed  allowances  not  given  children  in 
most  homes — Amount  and  purpose  of  allow- 
ance important — Adolescent  sensitiveness — • 
Regular  payment  and  debt  —  An  allowance 
should  not  be  a  wage — Typical  allowances. 

yill    Earning  Money 60 

Children  like  to  earn  money — A  fair  price 
should  be  paid  children — Children  not  to  be 
paid  for  everything — Freedom  in  working — 
Salary  or  piece  work — Supervision  of  work 
— Adolescence  and  earning — Pay  for  eco- 
nomic service  only — Work  outside  of  home. 

IX  Business  Dealings  of  Children  ....  72 
Street  trades — Farming — Various  means 
— Parents  should  know  of  child's  business 
dealings — Children  not  responsible  for  a  live- 
lihood—  Advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
early  business  experience — Typical  examples 
of  earning  money. 

X    Saving  Money 78 

Most  parents  encourage  saving — Intelli- 
gent saving  slowly  learned — Modes  of  saving 
— Typical  examples. 

XI    Financial  Responsibilities  of  Children    .       .      86 
What  this  means — Ownership  and  respon- 
sibility— Punishment    and    paying — Justice — 
Assuming  responsibilities — Typical  examples 
— A  broader  view  of  punishment. 

XII    Buying  Clothes 99 

Paying  for  necessities — Not  a  good  plan 
for  young  children— Preliminary  training  in 
buying — Helping  after  the  plan  is  started — 
Examples  —  Children's  budgets  —  Clothing  — 
Other  necessities  and  incidentals — Luxuries 
— Suggestions. 


CO'^TENTS— Continued 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII  Keeping  Accounts 108 

Why  keep  them? — The  essentials — An  ex- 
ample of  accounting — When  and  how  to  be- 
gin personal  accounts  —  Other  accounts  — 
Typical  experiences. 

XIV  Financial  Communism  in  the  Home        .      .    116 

Practicability  dependent  on  the  spirit  of 
the  home  —  Dangers  —  Partial  communism 
better — Advantages  of  common  money  inter- 
ests— Money  affairs  related  to  other  affairs. 

Part  II — Training  Outside  the  Home 

XV    Institutions  for  Children's  Savings        ,      .     125 

Means  of  saving  provided  by  various  so- 
cieties— Work  of  schools  in  promoting  sav- 
ing— The  two  methods  most  used — How  it 
works  in  one  place — Cautions  to  be  observed 
— What  is  gained  by  the  promotion  of  saving. 

XVI  School  Arithmetic  and  Financial  Training  133 
Aims  and  deficiencies  in  arithmetical 
training  —  Academic  idea  prominent  —  The 
business  attitude  —  Knowledge  of  business 
facts  lacking  —  Attempts  at  improvement  — 
Interest  in  solutions  needed — Typical  errors 
in  applications  —  Practise  in  formulating 
problems  needed — Suggestions. 

XVII    Arithmetic  with  a  Motive 149 

Practical  and  vital  arithmetic — Planning 
garden  plots  —  Garden  accounts  —  Practical 
judgment  needed — l"-xact  figuring  for  prac- 
tise only  not  desirable — Rcsponsil)ility  for  a 
luncheon — Responsibility  for  school  repairs 
and  supplies — lixpert  training  in  all  lines  not 
needed  —  Make-believe  and  real  business  — 
School  problems — Pupils  trained  to  do  busi- 
ness— Kstimating  the  cost  of  work  being  done 
^Community  accounting  in  school — Sugges- 
tions. 


CONTENTS— Co«/tHMrrf 

CHAPTER  PACK 

XVIII    Incidental  and  Intentional  Financial  Train- 
ing IN  School  Affairs 171 

Free  supplies  may  encourage  waste — Each 
school  might  be  responsible  for  its  supplies — 
Illustrations  of  financial  training  in  school 
affairs — Opportunities  for  financial  training 
becoming  greater  —  Financiering  in  institu- 
tions—  Accounts  of  school  organizations  — 
Suggestions. 

XIX    Home    and    Community    Life    in    Financial 

Training 183 

Personal  experience  not  enough — Instruc- 
tion by  precepts  and  stories — Apply  business 
methods  to  the  child's  affairs — Family  budg- 
ets may  be  studied — Investments  should  also 
be  considered — The  study  of  the  business  of 
the  community — Samples  of  problems  from 
the  Indianapolis  course  of  study. 

XX    How   Uncle    Sam    Is   Giving   His   Boys   and 

Girls  Financial  Training 191 

Corn  clubs  give  a  good  kind  of  financial 
training  —  Relation  of  financial  and  social 
progress — How  boys'  clubs  help  boys  mor- 
ally— Extract  from  letter  written  by  state 
agent  of  Tennessee  —  Extract  from  letter 
written  by  state  agent  of  Alabama — Extract 
from  letter  written  by  state  agent  of  Missis- 
sippi— Extract  from  letter  written  by  state 
agent  of  Texas — Extract  from  letter  written 
by  state  agent  of  West  Virginia — Why  the 
clubs  succeeded — Profits  gained — Sample  re- 
ports of  boys'  corn  clubs — Management  as 
well  as  theory  of  corn  clubs  is  good — Mar- 
keting —  Cooperative  club  work  —  Achieve- 
ment clubs. 

Appendix 203 

Bibliography 217 

Index 223 


THE  USE  OF  MONEY 


PART  I 

HOME  TRAINING 


THE  USE  OF  MONEY 


CHAPTER  I 

IMPORTANCE  OF  FilMANClAL  TRAINING 

2  7  3  cA  5^ 

Need  of  Studying  the  Problem. — Most  people 
if  suddenly  asked,  "What  financial  training  did  you 
have  as  a  child?"  would  probably  say,  "None."  If 
asked,  "What  financial  training  are  you  giving  your 
own  children?"  many  parents  would  give  the  same 
answer.  All  parents,  however,  do  incidentally  give 
lessons  in  finance  and  a  few  give  definite  instruction 
with  regard  to  money. 

The  teacher,  if  thus  questioned,  would  usually  say 
something  about  arithmetic  or  perhaps  refer  to 
some  system  of  money-saving  that  is  being  oper- 
ated by  the  school.  Much  has  really  been  done  that 
educates  children  financially,  but  probably  not  one 
person  in  ten  has  ever  seriously  studied  the  prob- 
lem of  the  need  of  financial  training  of  children 
and  of  how  that  need  at  each  age  may  best  be  met. 

A  moment's  reflection  tells  one  that  many  adults 

1 


2  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

do  not  know  how  to  spend  their  money  wisely  and 
that  still  fewer  know  how  to  keep  it  safely  or  in- 
vest it  successfully.  Every  day  we  see  people  spend- 
ing money  in  ways  that  bring  little  satisfaction. 
Others  are  tortured  by  the  fear  of  losing  what  they 
have,  while  still  others  are  investing  in  schemes  that 
promise  much  and  yield  little  or  nothing. 

Charity  workers  are  especially  impressed  with 
the  inability  of  poor  people  to  spend  wisely  the  little 
money  they  get.  One  woman  whose  family  was  in 
a  starving  condition  spent  all  of  the  dollar  that  was 
given  her  for  canned  lobster,  and  another  in  a  sim- 
ilar situation  had  a  picture  taken. 

Rich  sons  and  daughters  often  spend  the  money 
accumulated  by  their  fathers  in  even  more  foolish 
ways.  In  general  it  is  only  the  common  people  who 
have  had  much  experience  in  saving  and  spending 
money,  who  spend  it  wisely  and  many  of  these  have 
paid  a  high  price  for  their  knowledge.  If  carefully 
planned  financial  training  were  given,  the  number 
spending  wisely  would  doubtless  be  greatly  in- 
creased. 

Growing  Importance  of  Money  in  Present- 
Day  Life. — The  need  for  financial  training  is  in- 
creasing. Money  has  a  steadily  growing  impor- 
tance in  life  as  civilization  progresses.  Money  may 
quickly  procure  the  necessities — food,  fuel  and 
clothing.     It  may  give  us  any  kind  of  scenery  or 


IMPORTANCE    OF    TRAINING  3 

climate  we  prefer.  It  can  surround  us  with  works 
of  art  and  literature  and  give  us  leisure  to  enjoy 
them.  It  can  procure  for  us  any  sort  of  amusement 
we  may  desire,  and,  above  all,  it  can  to  a  consid- 
erable extent  determine  our  companions. 

Looked  at  from  the  earning  side,  all  of  the  in- 
dustries are  to  the  workers  merely  means  of  getting 
money.  In  more  primitive  conditions  each  man 
worked  directly  for  what  he  wanted;  he  searched 
for  his  food,  built  his  shelter,  traveled  where  he 
wished  and  lived  among  people  whom  he  could  per- 
sonally please  or  influence. 

Now  his  efforts  are  directed  toward  getting 
money  and  with  it  he  procures  the  satisfactions  that 
he  most  desires.  In  many  places  only  money  can 
procure  fresh  air,  sunlight,  warmth,  amusement, 
knowledge,  power.  It  is  true  that  the  best  things 
in  life — love,  friendship  and  honor — can  not  be 
purchased  with  money,  yet  without  money  it  may 
be  nearly  or  quite  impossible  to  associate  with  the 
kind  of  persons  we  wish  for  friends  and  lovers.  So 
even  this  is  in  part  conditional  upon  the  possession 
of  money. 

Looking  at  the  matter  from  the  social  point  of 
view,  we  find  that  every  kind  of  institution — po- 
litical, religious,  social,  cultural,  recreational  and 
educational — must  be  supported  by  money.  All  the 
conveniences  of  life — roads,  lights,  water,  mails, 


4  THE   USE   OF    MONEY. 

etc. — can  be  obtained  only  by  the  expenditure  of 
money,  which  must  be  gathered  by  taxation  or  by 
gift  from  those  who  have  it.  Every  citizen  is  a 
partner  in  the  business  of  providing  pubhc  protec- 
tion and  pubHc  conveniences,  and  only  those  who 
know  something  of  financial  affairs  can  vote  intel- 
ligently. Great  care  is  needed  lest  taxes  be  collected 
unfairly  and  the  money  expended  unwisely,  perhaps 
in  ways  that  help  the  rich  and  harm  the  poor. 

Since  our  work,  our  amusement,  our  culture  and 
our  opportunities  for  social  life  are  at  the  present 
time  largely  dependent  on  our  financial  status,  it 
would  seem  that  no  one  can  consider  himself  pre- 
pared for  life  who  has  not  had  some  training  in 
solving  financial  problems.  Is  it  not  worth  while 
to  consider  where  and  how  such  training  may  be 
given,  before  the  child  enters  upon  the  serious  work 
\  of  life,  where  he  can  learn  only  by  costly  experi- 
ence? 

Use  of  Money  Less  Evident  to  Children. — In 
the  cities  and  to  some  extent  in  rural  districts  chil- 
dren, especially  of  the  well-to-do  and  wealthy 
classes,  see  much  less  money  used  than  formerly. 
In  many  homes  groceries  and  most  of  the  other 
necessities  and  luxuries  are  ordered  by  telephone 
and  paid  for  by  check.  Children  have  no  opportu- 
nity to  observe  the  prices  paid  and  often  scarcely 
know  that  sugar,  light,  etc.,  cost  money.    Car  fares, 


IMPORTANCE   OF   TRAINING  5 

moving  pictures  and  sweets  are  about  all  the  things 
for  which  many  children  actually  see  money  used. 

If  they  know  anything  about  where  money  comes 
from  the  knowledge  often  goes  little  further  than 
that  it  is  obtained  at  the  bank.  They  do  not  realize 
that  it  is  earned  by  some  sort  of  labor.  Neither  do 
they  realize  that  the  amount  is  usually  limited  and 
that  if  certain  things  are  purchased  with  it  others 
can  not  be.  Some  parents  say  little  about  money 
and  the  children  are  in  almost  complete  ignorance 
as  to  the  part  it  plays  in  their  lives. 

By  talking  about  it  a  great  deal  other  persons 
give  children  the  idea  that  it  is  the  chief  object  of 
desire;  but  children  can  get  a  true  idea  of  the  part 
it  plays  in  life  only  through  observation  and  ex- 
perience of  its  cost  and  use.  The  problem  of  finan- 
cial training  is  largely  one  of  giving  the  opportuni- 
ties for  such  observation  and  experience  at  the  right 
time  and  in  the  right  way. 

The  Real  Place  of  Money  in  Life. — It  is  per- 
haps not  necessary  to  point  out  further  the  value 
of  money  to  Americans,  who  are  said  to  be  wor- 
shipers of  the  "Almighty  Dollar."  However,  we 
may  remind  them  that  it  has  no  value  in  itself  but 
only  in  what  it  will  buy.  It  is  only  a  convenient 
means  of  exchanging  effort  for  some  sort  of  satis- 
faction of  desire.  This,  however,  is  why  tbe  ques- 
tion of  financial  training  is  so  important.     It  is  not 


6  THE   USE   OF    MONEY, 

merely  a  matter  of  computing  the  value  of  things 
in  terms  of  a  unit  of  value. 

Financial  problems  are  deeper  and  more  funda- 
mental than  rules  of  arithmetic.  They  involve 
choice  as  to  what  our  life  shall  be,  determine  what 
effort  we  shall  put  forth  and  what  desire  we  shall 
satisfy.  If  we  put  forth  little  effort  we  can  get 
enough  to  satisfy  only  a  few  desires.  If  wc  put 
forth  too  much  effort  we  may  have  little  time  or 
energy  for  gratification.  If  we  spend  our  money 
as  fast  as  we  get  it  satisfactions  are  quickly  ob- 
tained but  are  often  transient.  If  we  hoard  our 
money  there  is  some  pleasure  in  the  thought  of  its 
possession  and  perhaps  a  good  deal  of  worry  lest  it 
be  lost,  yet  most  of  it  may  be  spent  by  others.  If 
we  save  with  a  view  to  gratifying  a  special  wish 
as  soon  as  we  have  enough  we  enjoy  the  pleasure 
of  anticipation  and  also  that  of  realization.  The 
kinds  of  satisfactions,  however,  that  we  anticipate 
and  realize  differ  as  widely  as  our  desires  and  ideals. 
That  for  which  you  save  and  spend  tells  what  you 
are  and  what  you  wish  to  be. 

The  Broader  Significance  of  Earning  and 
Spending. — The  moral  significance  of  money  can 
not  be  ignored.  Owners  of  property  are  generally 
more  responsible  and  appreciative  of  property  rights 
than  those  who  own  no  property.  It  is  a  familiar 
truth  to  social  workers  that,  among  the  very  poor, 


IMPORTANCE    OF   TRAINING  7 

increased  eflfort  to  earn  money  and  the  purchase  of 
useful  things  are  among  the  best  indications  of 
moral  improvement.  In  the  case  of  the  rich,  care- 
lessness as  to  how  money  is  gained  and  spent  is  al- 
most equally  clear  evidence  of  moral  decline.  Most 
crimes  are  attempts  to  get  money  without  giving 
an  equivalent  for  it. 

The  problem,  then,  of  the  financial  training  of  chil- 
dren, as  they  begin  to  make  use  of  this  medium  for 
transforming  effort  into  some  kind  of  satisfaction, 
is  not  merely  one  of  financial  training  in  the  narrow 
meaning  of  the  word,  but  of  practical,  social,  phil- 
osophical and  moral  training  as  well.  In  earning 
and  spending  money  the  child  comes  face  to  face 
with  the  most  important  of  life's  problems.  His 
future  success  and  his  usefulness  to  society  are 
greatly  increased  by  proper  training  in  directing  ef- 
fort and  in  the  choice  of  ways  in  which  he  gets  and 
spends  money. 

The  Problem  of  Giving  Financial  Training. — 
When  we  thus  emphasize  the  importance  of  chil- 
dren's receiving  financial  training  it  is  not  to  be  in- 
ferred that  formal  lessons  on  the  subject  must  be 
given  them  in  home  or  school.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  probal)ly  better  that  little  or  no  formal  teach- 
ing regarding  money  shall  be  given.  Experience 
in  actually  earning  and  spending  money  is  the  basis 
of  all  real  financial  training.     Talking  to  the  child 


8  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

about  money  will  educate  him  only  as  far  as  it  helps 
him  to  understand  his  actual  experiences  and  those 
that  he  can  picture  clearly  in  imagination.  The 
problem  of  financial  training  is  largely  one  of  giv- 
ing opportunities  for  educative  experiences  with 
money. 


CHAPTER  II 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  IDEAS  OF   MONEY 

Early  Ideas  of  Money. — When  a  child  of  two 
sees  some  one  receiving  money  the  imitative  tend- 
ency and  curiosity  impel  him  to  stretch  out  his 
hands  and  ask  for  some.  If  he  be  given  a  coin  he 
often  plays  with  it  for  some  time,  especially  when 
it  is  bright.  One  child  of  about  two  for  several 
months  called  vigorously  and  persistently  for  money 
whenever  he  saw  any  one  take  out  a  pocketbook. 
At  this  stage  of  development  there  is  no  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  of  money.  It  is  merely  something 
in  which  other  people  are  interested  and  also  an  ob- 
ject that  gives  opportunity  for  sensory  motor  play. 

At  four  or  five  years  of  age,  or  sometimes  earlier, 
the  idea  of  money  as  being  useful  for  other  than 
play  purposes  is  likely  to  be  developed  by  what  the 
child  sees,  experiences  and  is  told.  He  sees  money 
given  for  various  things.  Perhaps  he  is  given  a 
penny  and  told  to  buy  some  candy.  Such  an  ex- 
perience may  be  almost  an  epoch-making  one  in  his 
life.  He  no  longer  regards  a  piece  of  money  as  a 
plaything.    It  is  an  object  that  has  the  magic  power 

9 


10  JHE   USE    OF    MONEY 

of  being  transformable  into  almost  anything  else 
and  this  opens  the  way  to  all  kinds  of  play  of  the 
imagination. 

At  first  there  is  no  clear  idea  of  the  amount  of 
different  articles  that  a  penny  will  buy  or  of  the 
comparative  value  of  the  different  coins.  Presently, 
however,  he  notices  that  a  nickel  or  dime  buys  more 
candy  or  other  things  than  a  penny.  From  this  he 
develops,  as  he  learns  to  count  and  sees  money 
changed,  exact  ideas  as  to  the  comparative  value  of 
pennies  and  nickels,  nickels  and  dimes,  etc.  He  also 
often  finds  that  he  has  not  enough  money  to  pur- 
chase certain  things  and  gradually  learns  that  every- 
thing has  a  definite  price.  But  for  a  long  time  the 
idea  is  very  indefinite  of  what  a  large  piece  of 
money,  such  as  a  dollar,  will  buy.  The  child  may 
expect  to  buy  a  horse  or  an  automobile,  some  candy 
and  "a  lot  of  other  things"  for  a  dollar. 

Long  before  a  child  can  count  a  hundred  he  may 
know  that  a  hundred  is  more  than  ten.  That  may 
for  a  while  be  to  him  the  largest  number,  but  later 
a  thousand,  then  a  million,  is  his  big  number.  He 
may  use  numbers  and  perhaps  money  also  as  a 
measure  of  the  amount  or  value  of  immaterial 
things.  "I  love  you  a  hundred"  or  "a  hundred  dol- 
lars." With  some  children  the  unit  of  measure 
most  used  may  be  "bushels"  instead  of  "dollars." 
While  these  indefinite  comparative  ideas  of  large 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    IDEAS  11 

numbers  and  values  are  developing,  the  child  often 
acquires  very  specific  ideas  of  what  may  be  obtained 
for  a  penny. 

The  following  are  fairly  typical  illustrations  of 
children's  early  ideas  of  money: 

"My  first  recollection  of  money  or  the  use  of 
money  is  running  to  my  mother  and  asking  for  a 
penny  with  which  to  buy  candy.  Money  was  to  me 
just  a  little  coin  which  by  some  unknown  method 
came  to  people  and  which  was  to  be  used  for  candy, 
dolls  and  other  things  that  were  equally  nice  or 
interesting." 

"When  I  was  very  young  I  never  thought  much 
about  money.  When  I  went  any  place  with  older 
people,  they  usually  bought  me  something  so  that, 
as  time  went  on,  I  began  to  think  money  was  for 
grown-up  people  and  that  some  day  I  would  spend 
money  as  they  did." 

"My  earliest  idea  of  money  was  that  it  was  some- 
thing with  which  to  buy  things  and  that  one  could 
get  it  anywhere  by  asking  for  it." 

"I  remember  that  when  I  was  very  small,  about 
four  years  old,  I  would  much  rather  have  a  five- 
cent  piece  than  a  dime  because  it  was  the  larger, 
therefore  I  thought  it  had  greater  value.  I  would 
rather  have  five  pennies  than  a  five-cent  piece  be- 
cause I  thought  I  could  get  more  with  the  pennies 
than  with  the  nickel." 


12  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

In  the  two  instances  following  the  adults  men- 
tioned appear  to  have  never  thought  of  the  mental 
condition  of  small  children  regarding  numbers  and 
values : 

"It  was  on  my  fourth  birthday  that  my  father 
proudly  gave  me  fifty  cents  to  spend  just  as  I 
wanted  to.  I  was  almost  beside  myself  with  joy 
and  ran  gleefully  to  my  brother  to  show  him  my 
treasure.  He  at  once  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
took  out  five  shining  pennies  which  he  offered  me. 
I  quickly  jumped  at  this  bargain  and  gave  him 
my  old  dull-looking  coin  for  his  bright  ones.  I 
went  to  my  father  and  showed  him  the  money  but 
was  greatly  disappointed  to  find  that  I  had  lost  by 
my  exchange.  This  was  the  last  time  that  I  ever 
exchanged  dull-looking  coins  for  bright  ones." 

"It  was  my  third  birthday  and  my  grandmother 
had  given  me  a  five-dollar  gold  piece  as  a  present. 
It  had  been  placed  in  my  bank  on  the  shelf,  and 
when  my  mother's  back  was  turned  I  climbed  upon 
a  chair,  thus  reaching  the  bank  and  extracting  the 
'penny,'  as  I  called  it.  I  then  ran  out  of  the  door 
and  down  the  street  before  my  mother  had  turned 
around.  Just  as  I  reached  the  door  of  a  near-by 
grocery  store  I  saw  my  mother  come  tearing  after 
me,  and  as  she  reached  me  she  commanded  me  to 
show  her  what  I  had.  I  immediately  replied  it  was 
only  a  penny  with  which  I  was  going  to  buy  a  stick 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    IDEAS  13 

of  candy.  It  is  needless  to  say  it  was  taken  away 
from  me,  but  I  got  my  candy  just  the  same." 

In  contrast  with  this  want  of  insight  into  the 
mental  states  of  children  and  of  appreciation  of 
what  early  experiences  with  money  mean  to  them, 
read  the  quotation  from  Ewald  in  the  Appendix, 
showing  how  he  sympathetically  shared  in  the  early 
financial  operations  of  his  little  boy  and  arranged 
that  he  should  learn  by  experience  some  of  the 
larger  lessons  of  life. 

Concrete  Rather  Than  General  Value  Appre- 
ciated.— The  completely  generalized  idea  of 
money  as  a  means  of  satisfying  future  as  well  as 
present  desires  is  sometimes  surprisingly  slow  in  de- 
veloping. One  boy  did  not  care  particularly  for 
money  unless  there  was  something  that  he  wanted 
immediately.  When  four  years  old  he  did  not  care 
to  secure  a  dime,  because  the  object  he  wanted 
would  cost  only  a  nickel  and  he  did  not  wish  two 
of  them.  Even  after  he  understood  intellectually 
that  he  was  likely  to  want  something  in  the  future 
that  he  did  not  want  just  then,  it  had  little  weight 
with  him.  lie  would  make  no  effort  to  get  money 
for  a  possible  future  use,  although  he  would  some- 
times save  for  a  distant  but  specific  object.  After 
it  was  brought  home  to  him  by  experience  that  he 
did  often  come  to  want  things  that  he  had  previ- 
ously not  thought  of,  he  was  still  much  less  inclined 


14  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

to  make  an  effort  to  get  money  for  an  indefinite 
future  need  than  for  one  that  he  felt  at  the  time. 

This  tendency,  natural  in  children,  to  attach  com- 
paratively little  importance  to  possible  and  even 
probable  future  needs,  often  persists  all  through 
life  in  some  individuals.  Such  persons  are,  of 
course,  likely  to  use  money  chiefly  for  present  pur- 
poses and  to  put  forth  little  effort  to  earn  more 
than  enough  for  immediate  wants.  They  are  also 
little  inclined  to  inhibit  present  desires  in  order  that 
they  may  have  something  saved  for  an  emergency. 

With  other  persons  the  idea  of  future  needs 
looms  large.  They  are  always  denying  themselves 
that  they  may  be  prepared  for  a  "rainy  day"  or 
striving  to  accumulate  that  with  which  they  expect 
some  time  to  enjoy  themselves. 

Experience  has  something  to  do  with  determin- 
ing whether  present  desires  or  future  needs  shall 
have  the  greater  influence,  but  there  are  doubtless 
native  differences  in  this  respect,  just  as  there  are 
in  the  strength  of  the  gambling  instinct  or  the  tend- 
ency to  take  chances,  as  compared  with  figuring  on 
certainties. 

Sometimes  the  idea  of  the  value  of  money  is  fully 
developed  in  a  narrow  way,  so  that  the  adult  comes 
to  think  of  it  as  being  valuable  in  itself  and  not 
simply  as  a  means  of  gratifying  desire.  All  thought 
and  effort  are  directed  toward  getting  and  saving 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    IDEAS  15 

as  much  of  it  as  possible,  without  planning  what 
shall  be  purchased  with  it.  Such  persons  strive  and 
scrimp  for  this  great  satisfier  of  desires,  and  yet 
deny  themselves  the  satisfaction  of  desire  which  it 
can  bring.  The  acts  and  words  of  adults  often  im- 
press children  with  this  idea  of  money  as  valuable 
in  itself  to  such  an  extent  that  even  small  children 
save  all  they  get. 

Idea  of  Cost  of  Money  Often  Lacking. — The 
child's  idea  of  the  use  of  money  is  likely  to  develop 
to  a  considerable  extent  before  there  is  any  idea  of 
its  cost.  At  about  four  years  of  age  many  children 
are  inquiring  where  things  "come  from."  The  an- 
swers to  this  question  regarding  money  give  only 
a  slight  idea  of  how  money  is  ordinarily  obtained. 
More  definite  ideas  are  gained  from  seeing  money 
paid  for  work,  or  hearing  of  money  being  received 
by  members  of  the  family.  As  long  as  the  child  is 
given  money  for  his  own  use  he  can  not  really  ap- 
preciate its  cost.  Only  by  experience  in  actually 
earning  money  can  he  realize  the  effort  that  must  be 
expended. 

Money  is  often  defined  as  "a  measure  of  value." 
This  definition  can  not  be  understood  until  the  ideas 
of  use  and  cost  have  1)ccn  pretty  well  developed. 
In  fact  adults  of  fair  intelligence  fail  to  realize  that 
money  is  not  value  itself  but  a  measure  of  value 
which  facilitates  the  exchange  of  values.     Money 


/ 


16  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

represents  so  much  labor  performed  and  so  much 
possible  satisfaction  of  desires.  This  idea  is  so  dif- 
ficult to  form  and  maintain  that  many  believe  that 
in  making  money  a  government  is  making  values, 
and  a  large  proportion  of  people  are  trying  to  de- 
vise means  by  which  money  may  be  obtained  with- 
out creating  the  value  for  which  it  stands.  In  other 
words,  they  are  trying  to  get  something  for  noth- 
ing. A  lurking  belief  that  this  is  possible  makes 
it  easy  for  expert  adventurers  actually  to  get  a  large 
amount  of  money  without  giving  its  value,  from 
their  too  easy  dupes. 

For  these  reasons  it  is  important  that  the  finan- 
cial training  of  children  should  begin  early  and 
should  be  conducted  so  as  firmly  and  clearly  to  estab- 
lish this  idea  of  money  as  a  product  of  effort  and  as 
a  means  of  satisfaction. 

In  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  six  pupils  from  the  third  to  the  eighth  grades 
were  asked,  "What  is  money?"  About  ninety-six 
per  cent,  gave  intelligible  answers.  Over  half  of 
those  in  the  third  grade  described  chiefly  its  mate- 
rial and  appearance,  as  gold,  paper,  etc.,  while  in 
the  eighth  grade  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  chil- 
dren described,  more  or  less  clearly,  its  use  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  or  measure  of  value.  A  few 
vague  answers  such  as,  "Useful,"  "Round,"  "The 
root  of  all  evil"  were  given. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   IDEAS  17 

That  many  of  them  had  no  very  definite  idea  of 
the  7'aluc  of  money  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  such 
statements  as  the  following  were  given  as  to  what 
would  be  done  with  five  dollars.  "Buy  a  cow," 
"Buy  my  cousin,  mother,  father  and  brother  a  pres- 
ent and  me  some  shoes,  stockings,  necktie,  collar, 
cuffs  and  a  nice  silk  flag  for  the  school,"  "Buy  two 
sheep,  a  hog  and  an  Indian  pony." 

According  to  their  statements  fifteen  per  cent,  of 
the  Sioux  City  children  knew  enough  about  money 
to  want  it  before  they  were  three  years  old,  half 
of  them  before  they  were  five,  and  nine-tenths  be- 
fore they  w^ere  ten. 


/ 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  USUAL  FINANCIAL  TRAINING  OF  CHILDREN 

Much  of  the  Training  Incidental. — Answers 
given  by  normal-school  and  university  students  to 
inquiries  regarding  their  own  training  in  financial 
affairs  indicate  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of 
parents  have  given  only  incidental  thought  to  the 
effects  on  children  of  financial  transactions.  Only 
a  few  have  systematically  followed  broadly  con- 
ceived plans  in  dealing  with  their  children,  with  the 
purpose  of  giving  them  the  kind  of  training  they 
needed.  The  whole  matter  is  not  infrequently  left 
to  chance  or  impulse,  with  no  thought  of  the  edu- 
cational effects  produced  by  the  way  in  which  chil- 
dren get  and  spend  money.  Many,  however,  do 
something  to  encourage  saving  by  children  and  a 
large  number  will  not  permit  children  to  spend 
money  foolishly.  , 

A  young  man  says,  "As  a  child  I  had  no  regular 
allowance.  I  earned  very  little  and  spent  very  little. 
Everything  was  furnished  me,  but  in  my  family  it 
was  not  thought  necessary  for  us  to  have  money  of 

18 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  19 

our  own.  I  was  fifteen  years  old  before  I  earned 
any  money." 

A  young  lady  w'rites,  "I  never  had  a  regular  al- 
lowance. During  the  years  from  six  to  twelve  I 
had  very  little  occasion  to  spend  money,  as  I  never 
went  to  any  place  of  amusement  without  my  mother 
or  some  older  person,  and  about  my  only  demand 
was  for  a  penny  now  and  then  for  candy. 

"Then  during  the  years  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
my  father  gave  me  money  every  few  days,  for  car 
fare,  ice-cream,  picture  shows  and  such  expenses. 
The  necessary  expenses  were  always  paid  by  either 
father  or  mother.  I  always  accounted  for  most  of 
my  spending  money,  especially  for  school  entertain- 
ments, ball  games  and  such  things,  as  my  parents 
never  liked  me  to  spend  more  money  foolishly  than 
was  necessary  in  order  to  have  a  good  time,  when 
going  with  a  bunch  of  ten  girls  in  a  large  town." 

The  following  is  rather  characteristic  of  the  prac- 
tise of  parents: 

"As  a  child  I  did  not  have  a  regular  allowance. 
Occasionally  I  was  given  an  opportunity  for  earn- 
ing money.  Sometimes  money  was  given  me.  I 
was  not  allowed  to  spend  my  money  foolishly,  that 
is,  for  unnecessary  things,  although  I  was  given 
some  privileges  aUmg  the  line  of  spending  money 
for  that  which  I  thought  would  be  most  profitable 
to  me." 


/ 


20  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY 

In  this,  as  in  many  instances,  the  chief  thought 
in  the  mind  of  the  parent  is  that  money  must  not  be 
spent  fooHshly. 

"I  received  money  from  my  parents.  Sometimes 
they  gave  it  to  me  without  asking,  but  more  often 
I  asked  for  it.  I  was  not  allowed  to  spend  my 
money  as  I  pleased.  From  twelve  to  eighteen  I 
earned  my  'spending  money'  by  doing  household 
duties.  I  was  given  more  freedom  in  spending  my 
money  and  I  usually  spent  it  for  books  or  something 
that  I  really  wanted  and  needed.  My  parents  still 
saw  to  it  that  I  did  not  spend  money  foolishly." 

Moral  Training  Often  Given  by  Parents. — 
Sometimes  benevolence  is  encouraged,  apparently 
with  the  idea  of  giving  moral  training,  as  in  the 
following  case :  "I  did  not  have  a  regular  allowance 
but  made  money  occasionally  by  running  errands 
or  doing  some  unpleasant  job.  I  was  encouraged 
to  spend  it  unselfishly  though  not  forbidden  to 
spend  it  as  I  wished.  Usually  I  put  it  in  the  Sun- 
day-school collection." 

Moral  training  in  finance  is  often  taught  when 
nothing  else  receives  attention :  "My  financial  train- 
ing at  home  was  not  very  extensive.  When  I  had 
money  I  spent  it.  When  I  had  none  I  did  without. 
I  was  taught,  however,  to  be  strictly  honest  and 
was  never  permitted  to  go  in  debt." 

In  the  following  case  the  mother  apparently  had 


FINANCIAL    TRAINING  21 

an  educative  purpose  in  view  and  her  plan  appears 
to  have  been  successful:  "When  I  first  began  to 
teach  I  regularly  gave  my  earnings  to  my  mother 
and  asked  her  for  money  as  I  needed  it.  Later  she 
insisted  that  I  pay  my  board  and  act  as  my  own 
treasurer.  This  I  consider  my  most  valuable  finan- 
cial experience.  Before  this  time  I  had  but  little 
idea  how  much  money  I  spent.  I  immediately 
started  a  bank  account  and  determined  to  deposit  a 
certain  percentage  of  my  income  each  year." 

In  the  following  case  the  child  was  perhaps  pur- 
posely given  experience  in  handling  money,  choos- 
ing and  learning  values  preparatory  to  later  com- 
plete control  of  a  fixed  amount:  "From  the  age 
of  six  to  twelve  I  had  no  regular  allowance  nor 
did  I  earn  any  money.  My  parents  bought  my 
clothes  for  me  and  met  all  other  expenses  incurred 
by  me.  As  I  lived  on  a  farm,  I  did  not  have  occa- 
sion to  spend  much  for  incidentals,  as  children  in 
town  do.  However,  money  was  often  given  me 
by  my  parents  and  older  brother  and  sister.  Some- 
times I  was  encouraged  to  save  this,  sometimes  I 
might  spend  it  at  once.  Whenever  I  was  sent  to 
the  store  for  anything  I  was  given  money  sufficient 
to  pay  for  it,  and  thought  little  of  the  price.  I'rom 
the  age  of  twelve  to  eighteen  I  had  more  experience 
in  financial  matters.  Still  I  earned  no  money,  and 
for  the  first  two  years  of  that  time  I  had  no  regular 


22  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

allowance.  However,  I  chose  my  own  clothes  and 
settled  expenses  for  myself,  the  money  being  fur- 
nished according  to  my  need.  When  I  entered  high 
school  at  the  age  of  fourteen  I  was  given  an  allow- 
ance of  ten  dollars  a  month.  This  was  to  buy  my 
books  and  school  supplies  first,  then  the  remainder 
might  be  spent  for  such  things  as  a  schoolgirl  likes, 
provided  I  did  not  go  to  extremes." 

Knowledge  of  Family  Affairs  as  a  Means  of 
Training. — In  a  home  where  the  parents  are 
meeting  the  problem  of  a  limited  income  in  such  a 
way  that  the  child  notices  it  he  inevitably  gains 
some  training  in  money  matters. 

"My  lessons  in  handling  money  were  received  un- 
consciously in  the  home.  My  parents  were  paying 
for  our  home,  and  putting  money  in  the  building 
association.  The  value  of  putting  a  definite  amount 
away  at  regular  intervals  early  made  an  impression 
on  me.  But  it  was  through  the  example  of  my 
mother,  who  bought  only  what  she  needed,  who 
never  spent  money  foolishly,  who  denied  her- 
self the  pleasures  that  most  women  want,  who 
never  wasted  anything,  that  I  received  my  greatest 
lesson.  Another  example  which  she  set  was  in  not 
buying  a.  lot  oi  cheap  articles,  but  rather  one  good 
one.  It  was  from  her  also  that  I  acquired  the  habit 
of  never  buying  something  on  the  impulse  of  the 
moment,  but  of  waiting  for  a  week  or  so.    By  that 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  23 

time  I  am  sure  whether  I  really  want  the  thing,  or 
whether  it  was  merely  a  passing  fancy.  Often  the 
desire  to  have  the  thing  is  lost  in  the  waiting. 

"Knowing  and  understanding  conditions  I  rarely 
asked  for  money,  and  then  only  after  carefully  con- 
sidering all  sides  of  the  question  and  making  sure 
that  I  was  not  asking  for  the  nickel  which  should 
go  for  bread.  I  was  permitted  to  spend  the  money 
as  I  wished.  There  were  no  secrets  in  our  home 
concerning  financial  affairs  and  consequently  my 
parents  trusted  me  to  do  the  wise  thing.  I  spent 
it  for  necessities.  Only  at  rare  intervals  did  I  pur- 
chase candy  and  then  only  in  very  small  amounts 
which  were  divided  always  with  my  sister  and  two 
brothers.  The  financial  experience  which  has  been 
most  useful  to  me  came  through  poverty.  I  have 
learned  to  economize  carefully  at  all  points  and  find 
that  I  verge  almost  on  stinginess.  Yet  I  do  not  re- 
gret it." 

Poverty  alone  may  evidently  be  a  pretty  good  in- 
structor. In  some  homes,  especially  where  money 
is  not  plentiful,  the  children  have  full  knowledge 
of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  family,  and  through 
hearing  their  parents  talk  and  seeing  what  they  do 
financial  training  of  the  greatest  value  is  obtained. 

"My  parents,  when  they  had  been  Iniying  certain 
articles,  would  show  them  to  us  children  and  speak 
of  the  bargain  they  got.     They  would  tell  us  why 


24  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

it  was  profitable  to  buy  one  article  and  not  another. 
They  taught  us  what  were  the  characteristics  of 
good  stock  and  why  certain  stock  on  the  farm  did 
not  pay." 

Another  says :  "At  an  early  age  I  was  permitted 
to  know  the  financial  afTairs  of  the  home.  I  soon 
began  to  see  why  I  should  save  my  earnings.  I 
could  contrast  those  who  owned  a  comfortable 
home,  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  etc.,  with  some  others 
of  the  community  who  did  not  own  their  homes, 
etc.  If  a  deal  or  trade  of  some  kind  were  to  be 
made,  the  matter,  both  pro  and  con,  was  talked  over 
and  I  was  usually  present.  I  was  thus  taught  to 
look  into  things  and  discover  whether  or  not  a  trans- 
action was  worth  while." 

Ownership  as  a  Means  of  Training. — In  the 
following  case  very  important  effects  followed  an 
act  of  the  father,  who  may  or  may  not  have  had 
that  end  in  view:  "At  thirteen  I  was  given  a  pig, 
the  runt  by  the  way,  and  told  to  manage  it  to  suit 
my  fancy.  It  seems  to  me  I  turned  that  pig  into 
more  business  experience  than  I  have  anything 
since.  Within  three  years  I  had  manipulated  my 
pig  so  successfully  that  in  its  stead  I  had  a  cow  and 
calf.  From  a  boy's  standpoint,  future  affluence  was 
then  assured.  Since  then  I  have  not  lacked  pin 
money.  I  think  that  bit  of  diplomacy  on  my  fa- 
ther's part  kept  me  from  going  to  the  city  to  make 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  25 

money.  Many  boys  who  should  remain  on  the  farm 
might  be  kept  there  by  letting  them  do  something 
for  themselves,  have  some  property  they  could  call 
their  own.  This  sense  of  ownership  not  only  made 
me  feel  rich  in  money  matters,  it  made  me  inter- 
ested in  doing  better  work  and  made  a  better  fellow 
of  me  all  around." 

Another  similar  case  follows:  *T  was  given  a 
horse  (colt),  some  sheep,  calves,  pigs,  also  small 
plots  of  ground  to  cultivate.  In  raising  and  selling 
the  stock  and  in  cultivating  and  marketing  the  crops 
I  learned  something  as  to  the  value  of  money,  etc. 
I  think  this  was  the  best  financial  training  I  ever 
received." 

In  another  case  a  boy  of  ten  with  no  idea  of 
money  affairs  was  transformed  by  the  experience 
of  having  a  regular  income  gained  from  selling  pa- 
pers. 

No  Definite  Training  in  Money  Affairs. — A  defi- 
nite policy  is  indicated  in  the  following  case :  "As 
a  child  I  had  no  regular  allowance.  Any  money 
that  I  had  was  secured  by  work  for  the  neighbors 
in  the  form  of  odd  jobs,  carrying  coal,  sweeping, 
whitewashing,  etc.  These  same  jobs  had  to  be  done 
at  home  as  a  part  of  the  family  discipline  without 
any  remuneration.  To  a  large  extent  I  was  given 
full  lil)erty  in  the  expenditure  of  my  money.  I  was 
encouraged  to  put  it  into  things  useful.     My  toys 


26  THE   USE   OF   MONEY. 

usually  represented  the  savings  of  several  w^eeks. 
Money  being  scarce  and  hard  to  get,  the  expendi- 
ture was  very  carefully  safeguarded.  Some  went 
for  cheap  candy,  not  much.  Having  to  earn  and 
spend  my  own  money  has  taught  me  to  prize  it. 
Moving  from  the  city  to  the  country  at  the  age  of 
twelve  and  being  in  poor  circumstances  meant  that 
all  the  children  had  to  contribute  through  their  la- 
bor to  the  family  exchequer." 

In  many  instances  the  parent  thinks  more  of  hav- 
ing the  money  well  spent  than  of  teaching  the  child 
how  to  spend  it :  "My  experience  in  getting  money 
was  always  the  same.  From  the  first  I  was  trained 
to  ask  for  the  money,  usually  small  sums  for  spend- 
ing. I  never  was  given  money  for  saving.  I  do 
not  remember  ever  getting  any  special  allowance. 
The  money  was  given  me  after  making  known  what 
use  I  should  make  of  it.  If  my  parents  judged  it 
right  I  should  have  it,  the  sum  required  was  given 
me." 

Sometimes,  as  in  the  following  case,  a  definite 
plan  is  started  but  not  adhered  to:  "Between  the 
ages  of  six  and  twelve  years  my  usual  method  of 
obtaining  money  was  to  ask  for  it  as  I  needed  it. 
After  I  was  twelve  years  old  arrangements  were 
made  to  give  me  an  allowance  each  week.  This  did 
not  prove  to  be  very  satisfactory  for,  besides  this, 
I  wanted  to  use  the  old  method  just  the  same.    The 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  27 

allowance  plan  only  lasted  a  short  time  and  then  I 
asked  for  money  the  same  as  before." 

Various  Incidental  and  Intentional  Financial 
Lessons. — Favoring  circumstances  as  well  as 
good  sense  on  the  part  of  parents  may  help  to  give 
good  financial  training,  as  in  the  following  instance 
which  presents  a  rather  unusual  variety  of  experi- 
ences : 

"My  earliest  recollections  of  getting  money  are 
running  into  the  house  and  begging  mother  for  a 
penny  for  candy  or  perhaps  it  was  the  bell  of  the 
hokey-pokey  man  that  started  the  desire  for  ice- 
cream. But  at  first  it  was  always  a  small  sum  of 
less  than  five  cents  that  was  given.  Later  it  began 
to  be  small  compensations  for  running  errands  or 
wheeling  out  the  neighbor's  baby,  ranging  any- 
where from  five  to  ten  cents,  according  to  time  and 
distance.  Later  on  or  at  about  the  age  of  ten  years, 
mother  gave  me  a  regular  allowance  of  five  cents 
a  week,  to  spend  in  any  way  I  desired,  without  any 
question  as  to  how  I  spent  it.  At  the  age  of  twelve 
my  family  moved  to  a  farm  in  the  country.  This 
opened  a  new  and  varied  experience  of  earn- 
ing money,  such  as  picking  berries,  fruit  and  vege- 
tables. It  also  gave  me  the  chance  to  raise  a  garden 
of  my  own  with  all  materials  supplied  without  cost, 
and  the  ways  and  means  supplied  to  get  to  a  market, 
the  profit  to  be  my  own.    This  took  the  place  of  an 


28  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

allowance.  The  first  summer,  counting  in  fruit 
from  cherry  trees,  about  ten  dollars  were  made. 
Both  these  plans  satisfied  me  at  the  time;  the  first, 
in  comparison  with  others  who  received  larger 
amounts  and  had  to  report  how  they  spent  it;  the 
latter,  both  from  freedom  and  amount  made.  I  still 
think  they  were  good  methods.  After  beginning  to 
earn  wages  at  teaching  I  began  to  have  the  desire 
to  attend  Normal  School.  This  helped  me  to  appre- 
ciate the  value  of  money,  and  the  planning  to  make 
a  certain  amount  pay  all  expenses  helped  me  to  use 
it  to  the  greatest  advantage." 

In  the  following  exceedingly  varied  experience 
there  was  obtained  very  good  financial  training: 
"When  very  young,  or  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
six,  I  did  not  have  any  regular  allowance,  but  sim- 
ply asked  for  money  when  I  wished  to  buy  some 
little  thing.  I  suppose  I  also  had  pennies  given  me 
for  doing  little  errands  sometimes,  or  for  being 
good  at  a  certain  time.  When  I  grew  older,  or 
when  I  entered  high  school  at  fourteen  years  of  age, 
I  had  an  allowance  given  me  each  week.  I  also 
earned  money  from  time  to  time  by  caring  for  chil- 
dren an  hour  or  so,  by  addressing  envelopes  for  a 
brother  who  was  in  business  and  by  taking  library 
books  back  and  forth  for  several  people.  I  was 
quite  satisfied  with  the  allowance  which  was  given 
me  at  that  time,  though  now  it  would  be  quite  in- 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  29 

sufficient  for  my  incidental  expenses.  I  remember 
how  I  earned  my  first  money  which  amounted  to 
anything.  I  took  up  the  work  of  a  hbrary  route 
which  my  older  brother  had  had  for  a  number  of 
years.  I  was  about  ten  years  old  then.  Every  Sat- 
urday and  sometimes  on  Wednesdays  I  collected  the 
books  from  regular  customers  to  be  returned  to  the 
library,  and  brought  them  back  one  or  more  books. 
I  received  two  cents  for  each  book,  and  so  earned 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  for  each  time. 

"We  had  a  school  savings-bank  system  when  I 
was  in  the  grammar  school,  so  I  made  quite  a  little 
account  through  it  by  buying  one,  three  and  five- 
cent  stamps,  with  an  occasional  twenty-five-cent  one 
after  having  a  l)irthday  or  some  unusual  reason  for 
a  gift  of  that  kind.  I  was  not  unlike  all  other  chil- 
dren, for  I  spent  many  a  penny  for  candy,  ice- 
cream and  sodas.  I  remember  too  that  when  I  was 
about  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old  I  had  a  craze 
to  wear  flowers  to  church  on  Sunday,  and  so  in  the 
winter  would  very  often  buy  a  couple  of  hothouse 
flowers  for  that  purpose. 

"Marbles,  return  balls  and  jump  ropes  were  al- 
most necessities  at  one  period  in  my  life,  and  I  do 
not  doubt  that  many  a  nickel  went  in  this  way. 
When  I  was  in  the  last  grades  of  grammar  school 
I  was  very  fond  of  taking  children  on  May  parties 
during  the  first  week  of  that  month.    Many  of  their 


30  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

mothers  were  too  busy  to  make  them  paper  crowns^ 
soldier  hats  and  May  baskets,  so  I  used  to  buy  quan- 
tities of  tissue-paper  and  make  them  all  the  fixings 
which  accompanied  a  May  party.  Many  a  time  I 
remember  making  investments  with  my  brothers 
who  were  a  few  years  older  than  I,  by  lending  them 
ten  cents  or  so,  and  receiving  at  time  of  payment 
one  cent  as  interest. 

"I  have  always  been  encouraged  to  make  my  own 
purchases  from  a  small  child,  which,  I  believe,  has 
developed  my  appreciation  of  money  and  how  to 
use  it.  Also,  when  we  grew  older  mother  gave  each 
one  of  us  girls  (my  two  sisters  and  myself)  full 
charge  of  the  table  bills  for  one  year.  We  had  to 
plan  the  meals  and  do  the  ordering  and  still  keep 
within  certain  limits  of  expense.  From  this  ex- 
perience I  know  that  I  learned  much  economy  and 
discretion  in  spending  money." 

The  following  presents  an  interesting  question 
as  to  which  is  cause  and  which  is  effect.  Is  the 
young  lady  unable  to  save  because  she  had  no  train- 
ing in  getting  along  with  a  limited  allowance,  or 
did  her  parents  refuse  the  allowance  because  they 
believed  it  was  not  in  her  nature  to  use  it  wisely? 
The  chance  to  show  financial  ability  should  have 
been  given  her  anyway. 

"Between  the  ages  of  six  and  twelve  my  usual 
way  of  getting  money  was  by  asking  my  parents 


FINANCIAL   TRAINING  31 

for  it,  also  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen 
I  did  the  same  most  of  the  time.  Of  course,  I  used 
to  do  little  things  and  receive  a  little  pay  for  it,  but 
not  nearly  enough  as  I  thought.  Now  I  know  that 
my  folks  used  to  pay  me  a  great  deal  more  than  it 
was  really  worth,  just  for  the  purpose,  I  believe, 
of  keeping  me  interested  in  work.  Never  have  my 
parents  given  me  an  allowance  when  I  have  asked 
for  it.  I  never  could  find  out  really  why  they  with- 
held it  from  me.  I  had  rather  earn  my  own  money. 
I  never  can  save  any  money.  No  matter  how  much 
I  have  I  can't  seem  to  save  a  cent." 

We  see  from  these  examples  that  there  are  many 
ways  of  receiving  financial  training.  A  large  part 
of  it  seems  to  be  gained  incidentally  with  only  a 
little  planning  on  the  part  of  the  parents.  In  many 
instances  this  is  inevitable  and  often  advantageous 
but  it  would  seem  that  if  more  thought  were  given 
to  the  matter  by  parents,  many  defects  in  financial 
training  would  disappear. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FINANCIAL  JOYS  AND  SORROWS 

The  Child's  Wishes  Should  Be  Respected.— 
Adults  often  find  difficulty  in  deciding  what  use  of 
money  will  give  the  most  pleasure  to  themselves, 
but  frequently  they  assume  that  they  know  better 
than  a  child  how  he  should  spend  his  money.  The 
child's  desires,  however,  differ  so  much  from  those 
of  adults  that  the  latter  are  often  mistaken  as  to 
what  will  give  most  satisfaction.  A  nickel  spent 
by  a  child  to  get  just  what  he  wants  at  the  time, 
even  though  the  pleasure  it  gives  is  only  temporary, 
may  be  worth  more  then,  and  later  in  memory,  than 
a  five-dollar  bill  spent  wisely  in  adult  life.  The 
child  may  never  again  be  able  to  get  so  much  satis- 
faction for  the  money  as  when  he  spends  it  for 
something  he  will  not  care  for  when  older. 

Parents  have  learned  by  their  own  experience 
that  it  does  not  usually  pay  so  well  to  spend  money 
for  immediate  temporary  pleasures  as  for  more  per- 
manent ones,  but  they  know  that  there  are  excep- 

32 


FINANCIAL   JOYS    AND    SORROWS   33 

tions  to  this  rule.  In  directing  the  spending  of  chil- 
dren they  are  Hkely  to  forget  that  their  adult  ex- 
periences and  feelings  about  the  matter  may  not 
ahi'ays  be  the  standards  for  the  child  in  exchanging 
money  for  satisfaction.  They  also  often  underesti- 
mate the  value  or  harm  of  the  child's  own  experi- 
ences of  pleasure  and  disappointment. 

A  large  number  of  normal  students  were  asked 
to  give  their  earliest,  pleasantest,  most  disagreeable 
and  most  useful  experiences  with  money.  The  typ- 
ical quotations  from  these  reminiscences  given  below 
will  tend  to  give  a  truer  view  of  the  value  of  money 
from  the  child's  standpoint. 

"My  earliest  experience  with  money  came  when 
I  was  about  four  years  old.  An  uncle  and  aunt  were 
visiting  my  home  at  the  time.  My  uncle  gave 
me  a  dollar  bill  and  told  me  to  give  half  of  it  to  my 
cousin  who  was  about  the  same  age.  When  I  was 
alone  I  took  the  scissors  and  cut  the  bill  in  halves 
so  we  could  each  have  half.  We  immediately  set 
out  to  buy  candy  as  most  children  would  do,  but 
were  disappointed  to  find  that  the  storekeeper 
wouldn't  take  our  money.  When  my  uncle  heard  of 
the  catastrophe  he  gave  us  silver  and  took  the  torn 
bill  to  be  mended." 

It  is  less  surprising  that  children  of  that  age 
should  do  this  than  that  an  adult  should  expect  them 
to  know  the  meaning  of  "half  of  a  dollar  bill." 


34  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY 

"One  of  the  pleasantest  experiences  was  when  I 
was  twelve  years  old.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  never 
been  allowed  to  go  alone  to  the  city  to  shop,  but  one 
day  my  mother  consented.  I  started  out  with  a 
brand  new  two-dollar  bill,  and  I  felt  almost  as  rich 
as  Croesus.  The  novelty  of  going  about  big  stores 
and  getting  on  and  off  cars  all  alone  made  this  one 
of  my  pleasantest  experiences  with  money." 

A  young  man  just  beginning  business  for  himself 
is  not  having  experiences  more  important  than  this 
shopping  trip  was  to  this  girl. 

"The  only  time  I  can  remember  when  money 
seemed  disagreeable  to  me  was  when  I  was  obliged 
to  spend  the  contents  of  a  dime  bank  which  I  had 
succeeded  in  filling,  for  some  clothing  for  myself. 
I  was  about  eight  years  old  and  mother,  knowing 
it  was  best  for  me  to  spend  the  money  on  clothes 
rather  than  on  sweets,  insisted  that  I  buy  some 
clothes.  I  parted  with  the  money  reluctantly,  and 
thought  at  the  time  that  it  was  the  most  disagreeable 
thing  that  could  happen  to  me." 

Some  children  are  very  happy  and  proud  when 
they  spend  their  own  money  for  clothing.  This 
one  might  have  been  if  she  had  been  led  to  plan  for 
it  instead  of  having  it  forced  on  her  while  her  other 
plans  were  interfered  with. 

The  following  suggests  that  the  effort  of  parents 
to  give  children  a  good  time  at  Christmas  might  in 


FINANCIAL   JOYS    AND    SORROWS   35 

part  at  least  be  spent  in  giving  them  the  opportu- 
nity to  win  their  own  less  selfish  happiness. 

"My  most  useful  experiences  with  money  were 
at  Christmas.  It  was  then  that  I  spent  all  my  pen- 
nies. I  would  feel  very  old  indeed  when  I  was 
planning  how  much  I  could  spend  on  each  present 
and  what  each  would  like.  As  I  was  the  oldest  of 
six  children  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  I  was  greatly 
interested  in  making  out  the  'lists'  of  their  Christ- 
mas shopping.  The  spending  of  our  own  money 
at  Christmas  time  came  to  mean  a  great  deal  to  us 
all.  It  meant  hard  work,  planning  and  reckoning, 
a  little  sacrifice  and  a  great  deal  of  fun.  It  helped 
me  to  be  more  careful  of  money  and  to  spend  it  less 
foolishly  during  the  year.  My  money  came  to  me 
in  different  ways.  As  my  home  is  in  the  country  I 
picked  berries  during  the  summer  and  sold  them. 
My  grandfather  would  hire  us  children  to  help  him 
pick  cucumbers,  paying  us  five  cents  for  a  basketful. 
In  winter  I  helped  my  brothers  pile  wood  in  the 
shed.  There  were  always  errands  to  run  and  little 
things  to  do  which  would  bring  in  the  pennies.  Our 
parents  often  gave  us  money  but  somehow  that 
never  seemed  to  be  worth  much.  It  was  always  the 
money  that  we  earned  that  was  really  money." 


CHAPTER  V 


SPENDING    MONEY 


Knowledge  of  Spending  Precedes  That  of 
Earning. — It  is  in  spending  money  that  a  child 
first  learns  its  uses.  He  must  get  it  before  he  can 
spend  it  but  usually  the  idea  of  the  cost  of  money  is 
gained  later  than  that  of  its  use.  A  child  may 
spend  money  for  years  and  learn  a  great  deal  about 
how  to  get  the  most  satisfaction  out  of  a  given 
amount  without  forming  any  definite  idea  of  the 
cost  of  money.  Indeed  it  is  only  after  the  idea  of 
the  use  of  money  has  developed  that  there  is  any 
stimulus  to  earn  money.  The  first  care  of  parents 
in  the  financial  training  of  children  should  be  to 
give  them  correct  and  increasingly  definite  ideas  of 
the  uses  of  money  and  of  what  it  is  best  to  buy 
with  it. 

In  order  to  gain  full  appreciation  of  how  to  use 
money  the  child  must  have  considerable  experience 
in  buying  and  in  seeing  others  buy.  Some  buying 
must  be  done  by  himself  or  he  will  not  notice  and 

36 


SPENDING    MONEY  37 

understand  the  significance  of  purchases  made  by 
others. 

Freedom  in  Spending. — It  is  not  necessary 
that  the  parent  should  see  that  the  child  always 
spends  his  money  wisely,  as  many  parents  seem  to 
think.  Continual  supervision  and  absolute  prohibi- 
tion of  unwise  expenditure  accomplish  the  immedi- 
ate result  of  preventing  foolish  use  of  money  but  it 
has  very  little  training  value  for  the  child. 

One  woman  gives  in  American  Motherhood  the 
following  as  her  experience  with  money:  "My 
mother  gave  money  to  my  brother  and  me  from  time 
to  time  and  we  each  had  a  bank  where  we  were  sup- 
posed to  keep  it.  The  only  times  we  were  allowed 
to  spend  money  without  getting  permission  were 
Christmas  and  for  birthdays  of  members  of  the  fam- 
ily. So  as  I  thought  it  was  mine  and  they  had  no 
right  to  refuse,  I  used  to  spend  it  without  permis- 
sion and,  of  course,  do  away  with  what  I  bought, 
in  secret,  when  I  would  have  liked  to  share  with  the 
home  folks.  But  the  evil  did  not  stop  here.  My 
brother  was  almost  miserly  and  it  would  not  do  for 
his  pile  of  money  to  be  so  much  greater  than  mine 
or  mama  would  learn  the  reason.  So  I  used  to  take 
money  from  his  to  increase  my  stock.  As  mother 
was  very  careless  about  money  she  never  found  out 
what  I  was  doing." 

It  is  evident  that  restriction  as  to  spending  money, 


38  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

if  not  accompanied  by  close  supervision  in  all  re- 
spects, will  almost  surely  have  evil  effects,  such  as 
are  here  mentioned.  One  mother  who  is  troubled 
about  her  boy's  dishonesty  says:  "He  has  a  little 
money  to  spend  every  month  (fifty  cents)  which  I 
will  not  permit  to  be  spent  foolishly  or  on  candy, 
as  we  make  it  occasionally." 

Of  course  children  who  are  allowed  to  spend  as 
they  wish  may  become  dishonest  if  their  desires  ex- 
ceed their  means  and  care  is  not  taken  by  parents, 
but  it  is  more  likely  to  occur  if  there  is  no  freedom 
in  spending. 

Some  time  the  child  must  choose  and  decide  for 
himself  and  to  do  this  he  must  have  practise  in 
choosing.  It  may  be  a  good  thing  for  the  parent  to 
advise  the  child  and  explain  to  him  the  relative  ad- 
vantages of  different  purchases,  yet  at  times  the 
child  should  be  left  entirely  free  to  choose  as  he 
thinks  best.  It  will  even  be  a  good  thing  if  he  makes 
a  very  unwise  choice,  "pays  too  much  for  the  whis- 
tle," because  the  contrast  between  such  a  purchase 
and  one  that  brings  a  good  deal  of  satisfaction  is 
the  most  impressive  lesson  in  wise  financiering  that 
a  child  can  obtain.  No  amount  of  talking  and  ad- 
vising by  others  can  be  so  effective. 

Children  who  begin  spending  money  for  candy 
soon  become,  by  their  own  experience  and  that  of 
their  companions,   experts  in  buying  that  article. 


SPENDING    MONEY  39 

They  get  the  largest  amount  of  sweetness,  if  not 
the  best  quality,  for  the  money.  Sometimes  nearly 
all  the  children  of  a  school  spend  most  of  their 
money  for  sweets  of  some  kind.  A  little  store  sell- 
ing cheap  candy,  gum,  cookies  and  perhaps  ice- 
cream, in  the  neighborhool  of  a  school,  may  be  al- 
most wholly  supported  by  school  children.  It  was 
found  that  poor  children  in  Chicago  spend  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  cents  a  week  largely  for  sweets. 
Not  only  is  this  sometimes  not  good  for  the  health 
of  the  children,  but  it  is  poor  financial  training  for 
them.  They  not  only  form  the  habit  of  spending 
money  as  fast  as  they  get  it,  but  they  get  a  very  nar- 
row experience  in  buying.  It  is  sometimes  quite  a 
revelation  to  a  child  who  has  been  spending  his 
money  as  soon  as  he  gets  it  for  candy  to  have  the 
experience  of  saving  for  a  while,  then  purchasing  a 
plaything  that  will  last  him  for  weeks.  He  gets  a 
wholly  new  idea  of  the  possibilities  of  money. 

Methods  of  Spending. — A  considerable  variety 
of  experience  in  buying  is  valuable  in  teaching  a 
child  the  uses  of  money.  A  liberal  allowance  favors 
this,  if  parents  take  pains  to  see  that  the  child's  at- 
tention is  called  to  the  various  possible  ways  of 
spending  money.  Yet  an  allowance  that  is  so  lib- 
eral that  the  child  can  easily  purchase  everything 
that  he  wishes  leaves  him  with  no  strong  stimulus 
to  make  wise  choices.    In  Chicago  it  was  found  that, 


40  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

when  asked  how  they  would  spend  a  thousand  dol- 
lars, four  times  as  many  poor  children  named  def- 
inite ways  of  spending  it  as  did  the  rich  children. 

Amount  of  Money  Should  Be  Limited. — It  is 
sometimes  thought  that  to  have  all  wants  satisfied 
would  be  bliss,  but  all  experience  shows  that  it 
means  deadly  boredom  and  misery.  He  is  happiest 
and  most  active  and  progressive  who  always  has 
unfulfilled  wants  that  he  is  hoping  and  trying  to 
satisfy.  A  "divine  discontent"  is  to  be  desired  for 
all,  both  young  and  old. 

Affairs  should  be  so  arranged  therefore  that  a 
child  shall  want  more  money  than  he  can  get.  In 
the  case  of  poor  children,  especially  if  they  associate 
with  children  of  the  well-to-do,  no  arranging  is  nec- 
essary, and  often  their  wants  are  too  far  in  excess  of 
the  possibility  of  satisfying  them.  In  the  case  of 
the  rich  continual  care  needs  to  be  exercised  lest 
the  means  of  satisfying  wants  reaches  or  exceeds 
the  possible  or,  at  least,  reasonable  desires.  A  strict 
limitation  of  the  amount  of  money  the  child  has, 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  best  financial  training. 
This  is,  however,  not  likely  to  be  effective  or  satis- 
factory if  other  members  of  the  family  or  the 
child's  companions  spend  money  extravagantly. 

In  the  case  of  middle-class  families  the  problem 
of  properly  conducting  the  income  and  expenditure 
of  the  children  is  nearly  always  a  difficult  one.    If 


SPENDING    MONEY  41 

the  child's  associates  spend  money  extravagantly  he 
is  likely  to  want  to  do  so.  The  tendency  in  a  com- 
munity is  apt  to  be  toward  the  more  extravagant  ex- 
penditure, because  each  child  tells  of  how  the  ex- 
travagant children  spend  money ;  thus  he  often  gets 
his  own  parents  to  let  him  have  more  money  and 
each  success  is  a  new  argument  for  the  other  chil- 
dren to  use  with  their  parents.  Where  there  is  no 
parents'  association  to  discuss  the  question  the  tend- 
ency is  usually  to  excess  of  expenditure  on  the  part 
of  the  children  and  it  is  difficult  for  a  single  parent 
to  resist  such  a  tendency. 

This  difficulty  becomes  especially  great  at  the 
high-school  age.  The  youth  feels  greatly  humili- 
ated if  he  or  she  can  not  spend  money  as  freely  as 
companions  do.  It  is  sometimes  impossible  to  con- 
vince the  young  person  that  the  parent  is  justified  in 
refusing  more  money.  This  produces  an  unpleas- 
ant situation  and  sometimes  leads  to  wrong  actions. 
Taking  money  secretly,  especially  from  parents,  is 
very  common.  Many  children  think  that  it  is 
slightly,  if  at  all,  wrong  to  take  money  that  belongs 
to  parents.  Such  practise  may,  however,  lead  to 
stealing  from  others  or  to  other  immoral  ways  of 
getting  money. 

Immediate  and  Delayed  Spending. — One  of 
the  most  important  financial  lessons  to  be  learned  is 
that  concerning  the  advantages  of  the  immediate 


42  THE    USE    OF    MONEY 

spending  of  money  as  compared  with  saving  it  until 
there  is  enough  to  satisfy  some  larger  need.  Most 
adults  assume  that  it  is  well  to  save  money,  while 
most  children  feel  strongly  the  impulse  to  get  what 
is  wanted  now,  rather  than  to  wait  until  some  dis- 
tant date  for  getting  something  worth  while.  Al- 
though children  will  sometimes  accept  the  parents' 
view,  yet  they  do  not  really  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages of  saving  to  buy  something  more  impor- 
tant unless  they  have  the  experience.  The  parents 
should  therefore  see  that  they  have  such  experiences 
and  under  as  favorable  conditions  as  possible.  The 
first  few  times  that  a  child  saves  for  a  given  pur- 
pose he  should  not  have  too  long  to  wait  and  the 
thing  purchased  should  give  a  good  deal  of  satis- 
faction. If  such  is  not  the  case,  the  child  may  con- 
clude that  it  is  a  device  of  the  parent  to  teach  him 
what  is  not  really  true.  It  will  be  better  if  things 
are  so  managed  that  the  child's  actual  experiences  in 
saving  do,  under  natural  conditions,  give  him  sat- 
isfaction. 

Usual  Ways  of  Spending.  —  Accounts  of 
spending  money  by  children  who  are  free  to  spend  as 
they  choose  show  great  variety  according  to  the 
individuality  of  the  children.  One  spends  chiefly 
for  candy,  another  for  ribbons,  another  for  moving 
pictures,  another  for  college  ices.  As  with  older 
people,  each  has  a  pet  extravagance.    Very  few  plan 


SPENDING    MONEY  43 

ahead  very  far  as  to  how  they  will  spend  their 
money.  Many  save  for  specific  purposes,  such  as  a 
sled  or  bicycle,  or  sometimes  for  articles  of  clothing, 
and  others  save  for  spending  at  special  times  such 
as  Christmas. 

There  is  a  strong  temptation  to  interfere  and  not 
allow  a  child  to  spend  most  of  his  money  for  one 
thing  and  that  of  no  permanent  va,lue.  Yet  if  he  is 
led  to  spend  in  a  variety  of  ways  that  are  expected 
to  give  more  satisfaction,  but  still  gets  more  pleasure 
from  his  former  expenditure,  the  parent  should  not 
interfere  so  long  as  only  a  difference  in  taste  is  in- 
volved. If,  however,  the  child's  preference  is  the  re- 
sult of  an  acquired  and  undesirable  habit  of  spend- 
ing, for  which  another  may  be  substituted,  the  par- 
ent may  be  justified  in  interfering.  In  any  case  it 
will  help  to  have  the  child  figure  just  how  much  he 
is  spending  on  his  special  extravagance  in  the  course 
of  a  year. 

Spending  and  Will  Training. — Few  parents 
now  believe  in  breaking  a  child's  will.  On  the  con- 
trary, most  intelligent  parents  believe  in  developing 
and  strengthening  the  will  of  the  child.  Some  do 
this  by  striving  to  get  children  to  form  high  ideals, 
while  others  give  special  attention  to  habit  forma- 
tion. The  first  is  idealistic  but,  without  support,  in- 
effectual, while  the  second  alone  produces  only  me- 
chanical actions  of  a  certain  type,  with  no  ability  to 


44  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

act  in  new  situations.  Both  are  needed  and  in  addi- 
tion there  must  be  practise  in  choosing  what  course 
of  action  to  follow.  It  is  not  sufficient  that  children 
shall  want  the  highest  or  shall  behave  the  best,  .but 
they  should  be  able  intelligently  to  choose  the  better 
course  when  there  is  no  one  at  hand  to  tell  them 
what  to  do.  Not  only  do  they  need  to  choose  the 
better  way  but  to  persist  in  that  choice  without  some 
one  to  watch  over  them. 

It  is  in  this  field  of  choice  and  persistency  of  will- 
ing and  acting  that  training  is  most  needed.  No 
better  opportunities  can  be  found  for  giving  such 
training  to  small  children  than  in  allowing  them  to 
spend  a  limited  amount  of  money  freely  and  abide 
by  the  consequences.  A  boy  of  two  and  a  half  who 
gave  up  a  bright  penny  for  some  candy  wanted  to 
go  back  to  the  store,  after  the  candy  was  gone,  and 
get  his  penny  back.  When  he  found  this  could  not 
be  done  he  accepted  the  inevitable  and  thereafter 
realized  when  he  spent  money  that  it  was  gone  for- 
ever. In  a  similar  way  children  who  want  two 
things  and  have  only  enough  to  buy  one,  find  that 
spending  money  means  deciding  what  their  future 
in  certain  respects  shall  be.  There  are  few  acts  in 
which  a  child  can  realize  so  clearly  his  power  to  de- 
termine for  himself  what  desires  shall  be  satisfied. 
In  many  lines  the  parent  must  decide  for  the  child 
because  he  can  not  know  the  results  of  his  acts,  but 


SPENDING   MONEY  45 

in  this  field  he  can  learn  just  what  each  choice  and 
expenditure  of  money  will  bring  about.  If  he  re- 
frains from  buying  candy  every  day  for  a  week, 
then  buys  something  that  gives  pleasure  for  many 
days,  he  learns  the  great  truth  as  to  the  advantages 
of  giving  up  small  temporary  pleasures  that  a 
greater  and  more  permanent  one  may  be  secured. 


CHAPTER  VI 

GETTING  MONEY  BY  IRREGULAR  GIFTS 

Most  Children  Receive  Money  as  a  Gift  Irreg^ 
ularly. — Inquiries  made  of  many  young  people 
reveal  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  them  received 
their  money  by  irregular  gifts  until  they  were  in 
the  teens  and  sometimes  until  they  were  of  age.  In 
some  of  the  following  cases  there  were  chances  to 
supplement  gifts  by  outside  earning, 

"I  never  had  a  regular  allowance.  If  I  needed 
anything  I  asked  for  it  and  if  possible  and  reasona- 
ble I  got  it.  The  same  was  true  of  pleasures.  I  had 
a  pretty  free  use  of  my  people's  money  but  they  al- 
ways knew  what  I  spent  it  for  and  when,  and  I 
knew  the  things  that  were  beyond  and  those  within 
my  means." 

"Every  birthday  I  had  money  given  me  according 
to  my  age  and  I  always  put  that  in  the  bank,  also 
any  gifts  at  Christmas,  but  I've  never  saved  any  in 
my  life — to  really  save.  I  haven't  any  idea  yet  as 
to  the  use  or  value  of  money  but  now  I  always  think 
longer  about  spending  it  if  I've  earned  it  myself." 

46 


MONEY    BY    IRREGULAR    GIFTS      47 

The  gifts  of  money  on  which  these  children  de- 
pended were  from  parents,  relatives  and  visitors. 
Usually  the  child  did  not  know  when  he  would  re- 
ceive money  or  how  much,  though  sometimes  he 
learned  to  expect  a  more  or  less  certain  amount  on 
birthdays  from  relatives  and  sometimes  from  cer- 
tain visitors. 

One  says:  "Nearly  all  the  gifts  coming  from 
friends  came  from  elderly  people  and  I  fear  I  con- 
nected the  appearance  of  any  elderly  visitor  with 
the  money  he  or  she  might  give  me.  There  was  a 
certain  minister  who  visited  us  who  always  gave  us 
a  dime  on  leaving  and  I  would  reckon  how  much 
money  would  be  in  my  bank,  including  that  dime, 
many  days  before  he  came." 

In  a  large  proportion  of  cases  where  no  sys- 
tematic policy  was  followed  the  child  asked  his  par- 
ents for  money  when  he  wanted  it.  Some  report 
that  they  were  nearly  always  given  it,  while  others 
say  that  the  parents  asked  how  the  money  was  to  be 
spent  and  gave  it  only  if  they  approved  of  the  pro- 
posed expenditure. 

In  homes  where  this  rather  planless  procedure  is 
followed  the  children  often  receive  money  for  serv- 
ice rendered  to  relatives,  friends  or  strangers, 
though  in  a  very  few  such  homes  this  is  not  al- 
lowed. Usually  payment  is  more  in  the  nature  of 
a  tip  than  of  a  just  reward  for  the  service  rendered. 


48  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

Tips  Not  Suited  to  American  Children. — It 
will  readily  be  seen  that  such  a  method  of  obtain- 
ing money  gives  children  no  true  idea  of  the  ways 
in  which  they  will  get  it  when  they  are  grown,  un- 
less they  belong  to  the  class  that  receive  tips.  It 
may  be  argued  with  some  reason  that  such  a  method 
of  receiving  money  tends  to  make  children  polite 
and  kind  to  other  people  and  appreciative  of  what 
is  given  them.  In  general,  those  who  believe  in 
the  tipping  system  will  be  satisfied  with  this  method 
of  dealing  with  children  on  the  basis  of  personal  fa- 
vors rather  than  in  accordance  with  strict  business 
principles.  In  many  oriental  countries  much  of  the 
business  is  done  on  a  personal  basis.  One  man  of- 
fers goods  or  service  freely  and  the  other  gives 
presents  in  return  or  pays  according  to  his  liberality. 
Each  may  make  a  good  business  deal  and  at  the 
same  time  feel  that  he  has  done  the  other  a  favor  and 
been  kindly  treated  by  him.  To  a  high-minded  Arab, 
a  bargain  between  friends  may  seem  degrading. 

In  this  country  a  large  proportion  of  people  take 
the  ground  that  friendship  should  not  have  any  large 
place  in  business  deals  but  that  there  should  be  a 
definite  understanding  as  to  prices  and  a  fixed  price 
to  all.  The  independent  American  wants  no  gifts 
but  fair  and  honest  payment,  the  same  as  others  re- 
ceive. On  the  other  hand,  he  is  perfectly  willing  to 
give  and  receive  social  favors  and  would  strenuously 


MONEY   BY    IRREGULAR    GIFTS      49 

object  to  making  bargains  as  to  favors  to  be  given 
for  kindness  rendered. 

It  would  seem  clear  that  if  the  independent 
American  is  typical  of  the  men  desired  in  this  coun- 
try, children  should  at  some  time  receive  such 
training  as  will  prepare  them  for  strict  business 
transactions.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  believe  in 
the  oriental  practise,  or  wish  to  prepare  the  chil- 
dren to  become  porters,  waiters,  etc.,  the  method  of 
irregular  giving  is  the  one  to  practise. 

Gifts  Versus  Definite  Payments. — There  is 
good  ground  for  claiming  that  the  child's  early  ex- 
perience in  getting  money  should  be  by  gift.  This 
may  be  justified  by  the  consideration  that  in  early 
childhood  he  receives  care  and  protection  of  all 
kinds  from  his  parents,  and  it  is  not  unfitting  that 
this  should  be  the  case  as  regards  money.  The  chief 
questions  that  arise  here,  are:  "How  early  should 
he  learn  that  money  is  to  be  obtained  only  by  ef- 
fort?" "When  should  he  begin  to  be  self-support- 
ing?" "How  long  should  the  amount  he  is  to  receive 
be  kept  indefinite?"  There  is  little  question  that 
children  should  be  given  money  and  have  a  chance 
to  learn  its  use  before  they  begin  to  earn  it,  and  it 
may  also  be  well,  just  at  first,  that  the  amount  of 
money  given  them  should  be  indefinite.  It  is  only 
after  a  child  has  learned  something  of  the  uses  of 
money  and  has  gained  some  power  of  calculating 


/ 


50  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

that  a  limited  and  fixed  amount  has  a  definite  train- 
ing value. 

How  old  should  the  child  be  before  the  irregular 
method  of  giving  is  abandoned?  Some  parents  con- 
tinue it  until  children  are  of  age  and  even  later, 
many  abandon  it  at  fourteen  or  fifteen,  while  some 
find  that  children  may  learn  to  plan  some  of  their 
buying  from  a  limited  allowance  before  they  go  to 
school.  Some  think  that  the  idea  of  money  as  lim- 
ited in  amount  should  be  developed  at  first,  lest  the 
idea  of  spending  freely  should  develop  too  strongly. 
It  appears  that  many  children  as  they  reach  the  age 
of  adolescence  have  an  increasing  desire  to  know 
how  much  they  are  going  to  have.  This  is  of 
course  more  often  the  case  when  the  amount  re- 
ceived is  not  likely  to  be  sufficient  to  purchase  all 
that  is  desired.  When  such  is  the  case,  a  child  cer- 
tainly can  not  plan  with  any  satisfaction  or  wisdom 
since  he  has  little  or  no  means  of  estimating  how 
much  he  will  have  to  spend. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  young  children  should  not 
be  paid  on  the  basis  of  service  rendered  but  on  the 
basis  of  reciprocal  kindness,  the  child  to  do  favors 
whenever  asked,  and  to  receive  whatever  older  per- 
sons please  to  give  him.  In  some  homes  this  plan 
is  made  to  work  very  successfully.  In  such  in- 
stances the  idea  of  money  is  always  subordinate  to 
that  of  being  kind.    Experiences  of  being  paid  what 


MONEY    BY    IRREGULAR    GIFTS      51 

the  parent  chooses  to  give  teach  the  child  that  money 
is  obtained  by  rendering  service,  but  they  give  him 
no  clear  idea  as  to  just  how  much  service  of  any 
particular  kind  is  worth,  since  the  payment  is  usually 
very  irregular.  It  may  well  be  claimed  that  habits 
of  mutual  kindness  should  be  developed  earlier 
than  ideas  of  business,  yet  it  may  be  replied  that 
early  ideas  of  business  do  not  necessarily  interfere 
with  acts  of  kindness.  No  general  rule  can  be  laid 
down  for  all  to  follow.  In  some  homes  irregular 
gifts  may  work  much  better  than  in  other  homes, 
and  for  a  longer  time. 

Sometimes  children  practise  making  themselves 
agreeable  in  order  to  get  money.  This  often  gets 
them  more  money  than  actual  work  would.  In 
other  cases  the  child  calculates  as  to  whether  he  is 
likely  to  be  paid  and  how  much,  and  may  object  to 
going  on  errands  or  may  do  them  very  poorly  if  he 
does  not  expect  adequate  pay. 

No  intelligent  person  can  advocate  irregular  gifts 
and  indefinite  payments  as  a  permanent  treatment 
of  children  and  young  people,  if  they  are  to  have  the 
financial  training  suited  to  this  age  and  country. 
Much,  however,  may  be  said  for  this  way  of  deal- 
ing with  young  children.  How  soon  a  different  sys- 
tem should  be  adopted  depends  on  the  home  and  on 
the  individuality  of  the  child. 


CHAPTER  VII 

REGULAR    ALLOWANCES 

Fixed  Allowances  Not  Given  Children  in  Most 
Homes. — Regular  allowances  are  probably  given 
more  frequently  in  rich  and  well-to-do  homes  than 
in  poor  ones.  In  Chicago  thirty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  wealthy  children  in  a  private  school  had  such 
an  allowance.  Many  of  the  poor  children  earn 
money  and  they  are  also  given  money  (pennies)  in 
an  unsystematic  way.  It  was  found  incidentally,  in 
a  study  made  by  the  United  States  Child  Labor 
Commission,  that  only  about  half  the  children  be- 
tween fourteen  and  sixteen  received  a  regular  por- 
tion of  their  own  earnings. 

When  regular  allowances  are  given  irregular  gifts 
are  usually  rare  and  payment  for  work  done  is 
usually  on  a  business  basis,  but  this  is  not  always 
the  case.  Sometimes  a  regular  allowance  is  given 
but  at  the  same  time  the  child  is  free  to  ask  for  ad- 
ditional amounts  whenever  he  wants  them.  In  such 
cases  the  essential  reason  for  having  a  regular  al- 
lowance is  partially  ignored.    The  child  knows  that 

52 


REGULAR   ALLOWANCES  53 

he  is  to  have  at  least  a  certain  amount  but  there  is 
no  reason  for  close  planning  and  careful  choice  of 
what  shall  be  bought,  since  more  money  may  be  ob- 
tained. Such  procedure  belongs  rather  with  the 
irregular  gift  plan  than  with  that  of  a  regular  al- 
lowance. Nearly  two-thirds  of  the  Sioux  City  chil- 
dren stated  that  their  parents  gave  them  money 
every  week.  Probably  in  not  more  than  one-half 
of  the  cases  was  this  really  a  regular  allowance.  The 
remaining  one-third  may  have  been  given  money  oc- 
casionally but  not  every  week.  Not  so  many  of  the 
older  children,  especially  boys,  were  given  money  as 
were  the  younger,  which  probably  indicates  that 
they  were  expected  to  earn  their  own  money. 

In  many  homes,  however,  the  only  way  in  which 
a  child  can  have  a  definite  amount  of  money  to  de- 
pend on  is  by  having  a  regular  allowance.  This  is 
true  to  a  much  greater  extent  in  both  rural  com- 
munities and  cities,  under  modern  conditions,  than 
formerly;  hence  the  question  of  an  allowance  is  cor- 
respondingly important. 

Amount  and  Purpose  of  Allov^^ance  Important. 
— In  giving  a  child  an  allowance  the  question  of 
amount  is  very  important.  He  should  have  enough 
so  that  he  does  not  feel  too  keenly  the  greater 
wealth  of  other  children. 

It  is  even  more  important  that  the  allowance  shall 
not  be  more  than  is  needed  for  his  present  happi- 


54  THE  USE   OF   MONEY. 

ness,  or  so  large  that  the  child  forms  habits  of  luxury 
perhaps  unsuited  to  his  future  station.  It  is  not  well 
for  him  to  be  able  to  buy  everything  that  he  wants. 
Not  only  does  he  then  fail  to  learn  that  the  money 
supply  is  limited  but  he  also  misses  the  pleasure  and 
discipline  of  planning  purchases  so  as  to  get  the  most 
for  his  money  and  the  best  of  what  is  possible. 

In  summarizing  we  may  say  that  in  deciding  the 
amount  to  be  given,  one  should  consider  the  age  of 
the  child  and  his  probable  wants  in  view  of  the  place 
in  which  he  lives  and  the  companions  that  he  has, 
especially  the  latter.  The  allowance  should  not  be 
so  liberal  that  he  does  not  know  what  to  do  with  it, 
nor  even  so  much  as  to  permit  him  to  indulge  his 
appetite  very  freely.  It  is  better  to  make  it  too 
small  to  start  with,  than  too  large.  It  should  be  in- 
creased as  he  grows  older  unless  his  opportunities 
for  earning  increase.  A  child  who  is  inclined  to 
save  money  and  to  spend  cautiously  and  for  other 
things  than  immediate  pleasures  may  safely  be 
given  a  larger  allowance  than  one  who  spends  money 
as  fast  as  he  gets  it,  although  the  need  in  the  latter 
case  seems  to  be  greater. 

The  amount  of  the  allowance  should  vary  in  pro- 
portion to  what  the  child  is  expected  to  buy  with  it. 
If  he  is  to  buy  small  articles  and  pay  incidental  ex- 
penses he  should  of  course  have  more  than  if  he  is 
to  use  it  largely  for  his  own  pleasure.    The  question 


REGULAR   ALLOWANCES  55 

of  whether  he  is  saving  any  money  or  not  should 
also  be  considered.  In  general,  his  allowance  should 
be  chiefly  for  necessities  or  to  purchase  gifts  or 
meet  church,  school  or  other  obligations,  and  only 
partly  for  his  own  pleasures. 

Adolescent  Sensitiveness. — In  fixing  the  al- 
lowance of  a  child  in  his  teens  one  must  consider  not 
only  his  actual  needs  but  also  his  feelings  with  refer- 
ence to  what  he  ought  to  spend,  as  suggested  by  what 
his  companions  purchase.  He  should  not  be  too  much 
humiliated  in  his  own  eyes  and  in  those  of  his  com- 
panions by  compulsory  economy  in  spending,  and 
still  less  should  he  be  given  money  in  excess  with 
which  to  make  a  show.  If  there  is  any  way  in 
which  he  can  earn  money  he  should  himself  provide 
for  extra  luxuries.  Few  parents  realize  how  so- 
cially sensitive  are  most  young  people,  at  the  period 
of  early  adolescence,  and  how  keenly  they  feel  any- 
thing that  prevents  them  from  doing  as  others  do. 
Some  never  get  over  a  subconscious  feeling  of  in- 
feriority that  originated  in  youth.  The  showy  ex- 
travagance in  spending,  on  the  part  of  some  men 
who  have  been  poor  in  their  youth,  is  perhaps  due 
as  much  to  the  subconscious  impulse  to  convince 
themselves  of  their  ability  and  desire  to  spend  as  it 
is  to  a  wish  to  impress  others  with  that  fact. 

Regular  Payment  and  Debt. — Not  only  sliould 
the  amount  of  an  allowance  be  fixed  but  also  the 


56  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

time  of  pa3rment.  In  general,  the  child  should  not 
be  permitted  to  draw  his  allowance  in  advance. 
It  is  also  well  to  discourage  going  in  debt  in  other 
ways.  Usually  debts  for  personal  indulgence  should 
not  be  incurred  by  adults,  and  the  same  practise  is 
beneficial  for  children.  In  cases  where  there  is  a 
chance  to  invest  to  good  advantage  or  to  buy  an  ar- 
ticle really  needed  or  to  buy  something  valuable  that 
can  not  be  obtained  later,  it  may  be  all  right  for 
either  adult  or  child  to  go  in  debt,  providing  he  has 
a  sure  means  of  paying  it  later. 

Although  going  in  debt  is  not  in  general  a  good 
thing  and  should  not,  except  under  special  circum- 
stances, be  encouraged,  yet  it  is  probably  not  always 
best  to  prohibit  it.  The  experience  of  incurring  an 
unwise  debt,  together  with  difficulty  in  paying  it, 
may  give  more  valuable  training  than  strict  prohibi- 
tion or  much  preaching.  When  a  child  gets  in  trou- 
ble on  account  of  going  in  debt  he  should  not  usually 
be  helped  out  at  once.  He  may  be  helped  by  advice 
and  sometimes  by  opportunities  to  earn  money  but 
should  usually  be  allowed  the  instructive  experience 
of  working  his  way  out  himself.  It  may  be  neces- 
sary to  refuse  to  loan  money  to  some  children  who 
are  inclined  to  discount  the  future  and  to  stop  their 
allowance  if  money  is  borrowed  outside  of  the 
family. 


REGULAR   ALLOWANCES  57 

An  Allowance  Should  Not  Be  a  Wage. —  An- 
other matter  often  connected  with  the  giving  of  an 
allowance  is  that  of  requiring  that  certain  tasks 
shall  be  performed.  It  is  probably  desirable  that 
every  child  from  the  age  of  four  or  five  years  shall 
have  certain  tasks  to  perform  every  day.  Some  of 
these  may  concern  his  own  clothes  and  room,  but  it 
is  well  if  there  is  also  something  of  general  value  to 
the  family.  This  is  preparatory  to  social  life  in 
general,  in  which  each  one  has  a  part  to  perform. 

From  one  point  of  view  the  child  receives  a  reg- 
ular allowance  and  performs  his  regular  duties  as 
payment.  This  idea  really  makes  an  allowance  into 
a  wage.  To  be  consistent  the  amount  of  the  allow- 
ance should  be  proportioned  to  the  work  done.  An- 
other and  a  better  view  of  the  matter  is  that  of  a 
free  gift  and  free  service.  The  child  is  given  an  al- 
lowance just  as  he  is  given  food  and  clothing,  and 
he  performs  certain  duties  in  the  household  just  as 
do  other  members  of  the  family.  This  is  the  better 
plan  both  theoretically  and  practically.  It  is  not  de- 
sirable that  all  the  financial  relations  of  parents  and 
children  shall  be  on  a  strictly  business  basis,  and  a 
freely  given  allowance  is  one  of  the  best  ways  of 
preventing  this  condition.  Whenever  financial  rela- 
tions are  supposed  to  be  on  a  business  basis  they 
should  be  managed  in  a  really  businesslike  manner, 


58  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY 

that  the  child  may  learn  just  how  business  is  con- 
ducted and  what  are  the  usual  prices  paid  for  serv- 
ice. In  many  homes  it  would  not  be  possible  to  find 
enough  regular  work  to  justify  an  allowance  as  large 
as  the  child  should  receive,  or  properly  to  increase 
one  as  the  other  is  increased. 

If  a  child  fails  to  perform  his  regular  task  the 
regular  allowance  is,  by  some  parents,  withheld. 
This  tends  to  put  the  matter  on  a  business  basis, 
especially  when  the  amount  withheld  is  proportioned 
to  the  failure  to  do.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  put 
the  matter  on  a  social  basis.  The  family  belong  to 
one  social  group.  All  have  their  work  and  all  re- 
ceive something  for  their  own  use.  The  one  who 
does  not  do  his  work  ceases,  for  the  time  being,  to 
be  a  member  of  the  group  and  should  not  expect  the 
rewards  that  others  receive.  In  general,  however, 
it  is  probably  not  best  to  say  or  do  much  to  make 
young  children  feel  that  there  is  any  relation  be- 
tween the  regular  work  done  and  the  allowance 
-received. 

Typical  Allowances. — In  the  few  cases  re- 
ported in  which  a  regular  weekly  allowance  is 
given  to  a  child  under  ten  years  of  age,  it  is  usu- 
ally small  (under  twenty-five  cents).  This  is  fit- 
ting, since  young  children  can  not  intelligently 
spend  large  sums.  In  the  case  of  children  in 
their  teens  the  range  is  from  twenty-five  cents 


REGULAR    ALLOWANCES  59 

np  to  several  dollars,  according  to  what  has  to 
be  purchased  and  the  position  of  the  family. 
Some  of  the  allowances  are  conditional  but  most 
of  them  are  not. 

Nearly  all  children  prefer  allowances  to  irregular 
gifts  unless  they  feel  that  the  amount  is  too  small 
and  can  not  be  added  to  in  any  way.  Often  oppor- 
tunities for  earning  are  found  by  which  the  income 
is  increased.  Most  of  those  children  who  are  given 
a  regular  allowance  are  permitted  to  spend  it  as  they 
choose,  but  a  few  are  restricted  in  the  spending  and 
thus  deprived  of  the  educational  experience  of  plan- 
ning and  choosing.  One  mother  gave  her  seven- 
year-old  boy  ten  cents  a  week,  one  cent  to  be  spent 
for  sweets,  six  to  be  given  to  church  and  Sunday- 
school  and  three  to  be  put  in  the  bank.  It  was  not 
stated  whether  the  child  was  permitted  to  choose  his 
sweets  or  not,  but  probably  they  were  also  chosen 
for  him.  A  child  whose  parents  paid  no  attention  to 
his  money  affairs  would  be  more  fortunate. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


EARNING    MONEY 


Children  Like  to  Earn  Money. — The  desire  to 
earn  money  seems  to  be  almost  universal  in  children, 
at  least  in  America.  In  Sioux  City  ninety-seven 
per  cent,  of  the  twenty-seven  hundred  desired  to 
earn  money  while  only  one  per  cent,  wanted  to  get  it 
without  earning  it.  The  chief  reasons  in  order  of 
importance  were:  "to  be  independent,"  "to  spend 
in  useful  ways,"  "to  spend,"  "to  save,"  "to  spend  on 
luxuries,"  "to  help  parents,"  "to  be  rich,"  "to  get  an 
education,"  Miss  Palmer  found  that  in  a  poor  dis- 
trict in  Chicago  seventy-one  per  cent,  of  the  boys 
and  fifty-nine  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  girls 
earned  money,  while  in  a  more  wealthy  section 
eighteen  and  five-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  boys  and 
fourteen  and  eight-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  girls 
earned  money. 

In  the  method  of  earning  money,  logically  car- 
ried out,  the  child  gives  an  equivalent  in  work  for 
all  the  money  that  he  receives.  Not  many  parents 
begin  this  plan  early  and  carry  it  out  strictly.  They 
either  follow  some  other  plan  until  the  child  is  ten 

60 


EARNING    MONEY  61 

or  twelve  years  old,  or  pay  in  excess  of  what  his 
work  is  worth,  or  supplement  his  earning  by  gifts  or 
an  allowance.  In  most  cases  it  is  probably  best  to 
introduce  the  plan  gradually,  by  giving  the  child 
money  until  he  learns  its  uses,  then  have  him  per- 
form tasks  by  which  he  will  learn  what  money 
costs. 

After  he  has  learned  that  money  costs  effort  the 
child  should  learn  later  just  how  much  effort  of  each 
kind  brings  a  given  amount  of  money.  When  a 
child  is  learning  the  first  lessons  and  is  developing 
a  tendency  to  satisfy  his  desires  for  what  money  will 
buy,  by  his  own  efforts  in  earning  money,  a  little 
overpayment  is  permissible.  When  he  is  able  to  cal- 
culate and  is  ready  to  form  more  exact  ideas  of 
time,  effort  and  service  rendered,  he  should  be  paid 
as  nearly  as  possible  on  a  business  basis  for  what- 
ever work  he  does. 

A  Fair  Price  Should  Be  Paid  Children.— It  is 
quite  important  that  the  child  should  not  be  paid 
excessive  prices  for  what  he  does,  because  this  will 
lead  him  to  put  too  high  a  value  on  his  services  and 
engender  dissatisfaction  when  he  starts  out  for  him- 
self. It  also  gives  him  a  false  idea  of  the  amount 
of  effort  required  to  satisfy  desires.  Further,  it  en- 
courages him  to  spend  freely  money  that  lids  cost 
little  effort.  With  adults,  "Easy  come,  easy  go;" 
so  it  is  with  the  child. 


62  THE   USE    OE    MONEY 

Children  Not  to  Be  Paid  for  Everything. — 

One  of  the  difficulties  associated  with  paying  chil- 
dren for  work  is  that  they  may  get  the  idea  that 
they  should  be  paid  for  everything  that  they  do. 
This  should  be  guarded  against  very  carefully.  It 
should  be  understood  that  only  certain  kinds  of 
work,  especially  such  as  would  have  to  be  paid  for  in 
any  case,  are  to  be  performed  for  pay.  The  child 
should  expect  to  do  many  things  in  the  home  with- 
out recompense. 

In  doing  errands  for  neighbors  It  is  well  that  the 
child  shall  not  always  expect  pay.  In  general,  if  the 
work  done  is  such  as  one  neighbor  would  do  for  an- 
other (e.  g.,  getting  something  at  the  store  to  which 
he  is  going  on  another  errand)  the  child  should  not 
receive  pay.  If,  however,  a  special  trip  of  some 
length  is  required,  it  is  quite  proper  for  him  to  ac- 
cept pay  if  offered. 

A  definite  lesson  may  sometimes  be  needed  to  pre- 
vent children  from  taking  an  entirely  selfish  view  as 
to  the  ways  in  which  they  get  money.  An  effective 
lesson  of  this  kind  is  represented  in  the  following 
quotation : 

"WHAT  BRADLEY  OWED 

"One  morning  when  Bradley  came  down  to  break- 
fast he  put  on  his  mother's  plate  a  little  piece  of  pa- 


EARNING    MONEY  63 

per  neatly  folded.  His  mother  opened  it.  She  could 
hardly  believe  it,  but  this  is  what  Bradley  had  writ- 
ten: 

"Mother  owes  Bradley: 

For  running  errands $0.25 

For  being  good 10 

For  taking  music  lessons IS 

Extras  ..      .05 

Total  $0.55 

"His  mother  smiled,  but  did  not  say  anything,  and 
when  lunch  time  came  she  placed  the  bill  on  Brad- 
ley's plate  with  fifty-five  cents.  Bradley's  eyes  fairly 
danced  when  he  saw  the  money  and  thought  his  busi- 
ness ability  had  been  quickly  rewarded,  but  with  the 
money  there  was  another  little  bill,  which  read  like 
this: 

"Bradley  owes  mother : 

For  being  good $0.00 

For  nursing  him  through  his  long  ill- 
ness with  scarlet  fever 00 

For  clothes,  shoes,  gloves  and  playthings      .00 
For  all  his  meals  and  his  beautiful  room      .00 


Total  that  Bradley  owes  mother...  $0.00 

"Tears  came  into  Bradley's  eyes,  and  he  put  his 
arms  around  his  mother's  neck,  put  his  little  hand 
with  the  fifty-five  cents  in  hers,  and  said,  'Take  the 


64  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

money  all' back,  mama,  and  let  me  love  you  and  do 
things  for  nothing.'  "* 

Freedom  in  Working. — In  general,  a  child 
should  be  free  to  do  or  not  to  do  tasks  for  which  he 
is  paid.  This  is  the  condition  of  all  free  laborers 
and  is  equally  important  in  training  children.  If  a 
child  is  paid  for  a  piece  of  work  the  pay  should  be 
the  motive  for  doing  the  work.  If  he  is  forced  to 
work  he  should  not,  as  a  rule,  be  paid  for  doing  it. 
When,  however,  a  child  begins  a  piece  of  work  for 
money  he  should  not  usually  be  paid  unless  he  fin- 
ishes it  and  he  may  very  properly  be  required  to 
finish  it.  In  such  a  case  he  may  receive  full  pay, 
partial  pay  or  no  pay  as  may  seem  best  to  the  par- 
ent. In  many  forms  of  contracts  failure  to  com- 
plete work  means  no  pay  and  delay  means  partial 
pay,  and  this  rnay  be  the  basis  of  settlement  with 
the  child,  or  the  parent  may  make  it  more  a  matter 
of  discipline,  insisting  that  work  begun  should  be 
finished  and  that  failure  in  duty  brings  forfeiture  of 
reward. 

Which  of  these  ways  is  best  in  individual  cases 
depends  in  part  on  the  methods  of  discipline  usually 
followed  by  the  parent  and  on  the  peculiarities  of 
the  child.    In  any  case,  if  the  parent  follows  a  con- 


♦Reprinted  by  the  kind  permission  of  Fleming  Revell  Com- 
pany from  Children's  Story-Sermons,  by  Hugh  T.  Kerr,  D.  D. 
Copyright  1911. 


EARNING   MONEY  65 

sistent  course  it  will  usually  commend  itself  sooner 
or  later  to  the  child  as  being  proper  and  just. 
Everything  of  value  educationally  will  be  lost  if  the 
parent  is  inconsistent,  so  that  the  child  feels  and 
continues  to  feel  that  he  is  not  being  treated  justly 
or  as  he  expected. 

It  is  necessary  that  a  child  shall  develop  a  desire 
for  what  money  will  buy  before  he  will  choose  to 
engage  in  any  work  that  it  is  not  his  pleasure  to  per- 
form at  the  time.  A  child  who  wants  something 
very  much  will  be  very  anxious  for  a  "job,"  but  if 
there  is  nothing  special  that  he  wants  at  the  time  it 
may  be  hard  to  get  him  to  choose  to  do  anything. 
With  some  the  idea  of  adding  to  savings  may  be  a 
sufficient  motive,  but  usually  this  is  not  nearly  so 
effective  a  motive  as  the  idea  of  some  definite  thing 
to  be  purchased.  The  idea  of  some  big  thing  to  be 
obtained  months  or  years  hence  is  rarely  a  strong 
stimulus  unless  it  has  been  made  prominent  by  the 
suggestions  of  others.  Many  children  are,  in  this 
respect,  like  some  improvident  adults  who  will  work 
only  when  they  are  hungry  and  never  to  provide  for 
the  future.  Some  children,  however,  perhaps  im- 
pressed by  their  parents'  attitude,  are  always  saving, 
but  without  definite  plans  as  to  how  their  hoardings 
are  to  be  spent. 

Salary  or  Piece  Work. — Sometimes  instead  of 
being  paid  for  separate  "jobs"  a  child  may  be  paid 


66  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

a  fixed  amount  each  week  for  performing  certain 
tasks.  This  has  the  advantage  of  leading  to  regular 
habits  of  work  instead  of  to  mere  spasmodic  effort 
under  the  stimulus  of  some  special  need.  It  also 
gives  a  steady  income  on  which  the  child  can  count. 
In  the  case  of  special  pieces  of  work  for  special  pay, 
there  may  be  too  much  that  the  child  may  do  at  one 
time  and  too  little  at  another.  This  is  often  unsatis- 
factory to  both  the  child  and  his  employer.  It  is  a 
good  thing,  however,  for  a  child  to  have  some  ex- 
perience in  both  methods  of  earning  money.  It  is 
well  also  that  he  shall  have  experience  at  both  piece 
and  time  work.  In  the  one  case  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  work  is  well  done,  and  in  the  other 
that  the  time  is  faithfully  employed. 

One  of  the  difficulties  connected  with  occasional 
tasks  is  that  it  is  hard  for  a  child  to  stop  playing 
and  do  the  work  at  the  time  it  should  be  done.  This 
may  be  a  difficulty  in  the  case  of  regular  tasks,  but 
the  child  by  proper  management  can  be  led  to  form 
the  habit  of  doing  such  work  at  fixed  times.  In  the 
case  of  special  jobs  the  difficulty  is  greater.  The 
child  must  use  his  will  power  to  turn  to  the  task 
when  he  is  already  interested  in  something  else. 

An  experiment  of  one  parent  in  overcoming  this 
difficulty  gave  interesting  results.  A  boy  of  seven 
was  paying  for  a  bicycle  and  in  order  to  help  him 
financially  and   to  give  him  training  in  working 


EARNING    MONEY  67 

whenever  he  was  called  on,  the  following  contract 
was  made  with  him.  He  was  to  receive  a  dollar  a 
week  on  condition  that  he  did  whatever  work  he  was 
asked  to  do  promptly  and  without  question.  For 
some  weeks  he  did  very  well,  but  as  work  became 
scarcer  he  responded  less  quickly  when  called  on  to 
do  something.  He  was  reminded  of  his  bargain  and 
was  told  that  if  he  did  not  carry  out  his  part  the  con- 
tract would  cease  and  he  would  have  to  earn  the  rest 
of  his  money  by  special  jobs.  A  little  later  he  ob- 
jected to  doing  something  and  said  he  would  give 
up  the  contract.  He  then  began  working  by  the  job, 
being  paid  just  what  each  task  was  worth.  He  could 
not  get  much  work  and  money  accumulated  very 
slowly.  After  a  few  weeks  he  shyly  asked  if  he 
might  go  back  to  his  contract  again,  but  was  told 
"No."  It  was  a  long  time  before  he  finished  paying 
for  his  bicycle.  He  remembered  the  experience  a 
good  while  and  often  wished  that  he  could  "have  a 
dollar  a  week  again." 

Supervision  of  Work. — It  is  very  hard  for 
most  children  to  work  alone.  It  is  a  good  thing 
when  possible,  both  in  time  and  in  piece  work,  for 
them  to  work  for  a  while  with  some  older  person 
who,  by  his  example,  stimulates  and  directs.  In  any 
case  the  work  that  a  child  is  doing  or  has  done  sh<  aild 
be  inspected  as  to  amount  and  quality.  No  oppor- 
tunity to  commend  should  be  omitted,  but  on  the 


68  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

other  hand  the  child  should  be  expected  to  do  as  well 
as  he  can  and  should  be  stimulated  to  attain  a  high 
standard  of  achievement.  In  talking  to  the  child 
about  the  work  it  is  better  not  to  say  that  it  is  easy. 
It  is  much  more  stimulating  to  be  told  that  it  is  hard, 
but  that  he  is  doing  it  rapidly  and  well  for  one  of  his 
age  or  experience.  Boys  of  spirit  have  no  interest 
in  easy  things,  but  they  delight  in  showing  that  they 
can  do  difficult  things. 

The  highest  artistic  work  is  done  not  for  pay  but 
for  the  pleasure  gained  by  successful  effort.  This 
same  spirit  may  be  shown  by  ordinary  workers  who 
will  not  do  poor  work  even  though  a  better  quality 
is  less  profitable.  The  child  naturally  has  a  joy  in 
work  well  done  and  this  motive  should  be  kept  as 
prominent  as  possible.  The  pay  to  be  received  should 
not  be  the  only  reason  for  work,  but  only  an  added 
motive,  whenever  it  is  possible  to  bring  about  this 
condition. 

Adolescence  and  Earning. — It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  children  change  greatly  in  the  teens.  The 
most  unobservant  parent  is  aware  of  this  truth  which 
modern  child  study  has  so  much  emphasized,  but 
even  thoughtful  parents  fail  to  realize  how  pro- 
found are  the  changes  in  mind  as  well  as  body  at 
this  time.  The  whole  attitude  toward  every  phase 
of  life  undergoes  change.  More  children  wish  to 
leave  school  at  about  fifteen  than  at  any  other  age. 


EARNING   MONEY  69 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  for  this  is  that  they  may 
earn  money.  The  period  of  helpless  protected  in- 
fancy is  passed  and  the  instinct  of  independence  as- 
serts itself.  The  boy  is  no  longer  satisfied  to  be 
wholly  supported  by  others,  and  present  social  con- 
ditions are  bringing  about  a  similar  state  of  mind  in 
girls. 

In  many  tribes  there  are  elaborate  ceremonies  and 
changes  of  dress  at  the  period  of  adolescence,  to 
mark  the  change  from  childhood  to  manhood.  In 
this  country  to  begin  providing  for  one's  self  finan- 
cially is  taken  as  the  most  significant  sign  of  adult- 
hood. Earning  money  was  desirable  before,  but 
now  self-respect  seems  to  demand  that  the  youth 
shall  be  financially  somewhat  independent.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  he  shall  be  entirely  self-support- 
ing, but  he  must  do  something  for  himself  and 
spend  what  he  regards  as  peculiarly  his  own,  to 
gratify  his  now  more  clearly  defined  individual 
desires.  The  person  who  has  never  earned  money 
has  no  adequate  appreciation  of  its  value.  If  a  child 
has  not  had  the  experience  of  working  for  money 
he  should  certainly  be  given  it,  and  at  this  time  he 
should  now  have  additional  opportunities. 

Pay  for  Economic  Service  Only. — Children 
should  rarely  if  ever  be  given  pay  for  doing  some- 
thing that  has  not  a  commercial  value  of  some  kiufi. 
Being  paid  for  an  act  of  self-denial  or  endurance, 


70  ,THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

such  as  not  talking,  or  having  a  tooth  pulled,  is  some- 
times an  effective  stimulus  to  the  will,  but  it  does  not 
give  the  child  a  true  idea  of  financial  affairs.  It 
may  even  be  claimed  that  it  gives  wrong  ideas 
that  may  later,  when  he  becomes  a  citizen  and  an 
official,  make  immoral  action  seem  natural  (e.  g., 
receiving  favors  that  are  in  reality  if  not  in  form, 
bribes  or  a  form  of  graft) .  The  natural  reward  for 
being  good  or  brave  is  not  financial  remuneration 
but  social  approval,  and  the  good  opinion  of  his 
friends  is  often  worth  more  to  a  child  than  money. 
Payment  for  speaking  pieces  is  analogous  to  the  pay 
that  speakers  and  actors  receive,  and  hence  has  some 
justification,  but  payment  for  being  good  can  rarely 
if  ever  be  justified. 

Work  Outside  of  Home. — It  is  good  experi- 
ence for  a  child,  especially  in  his  teens,  to  find  work 
outside  of  the  home.  Commercial  enterprises  that 
children  engage  in  often  give  valuable  experiences. 
It  is  an  advantage  if  not  all  the  means  of  earning 
money  are  supplied  or  suggested  by  the  parents.  A 
child  who  needs  money  and  exercises  his  ingenuity 
in  finding  ways  of  earning  it  is  developing  initiative 
that  will  be  of  great  value  to  him  in  after  life. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  preventing  the  evils 
of  child  labor  should  not  forget  the  valuable  experi- 
ence that  is  gained  in  earning  money.  In  many  city 
homes  this  can  not  be  given  in  the  family  and  some 


/ 


EARNING    MONEY  71 

form  of  part  time  work  will  probably  have  to  be  pro- 
vided for  children  in  their  early  teens.  This  is  not 
to  be  construed  into  a  plea  for  the  exploitation  of 
children  by  manufacturers.  Work,  as  well  as  study 
and  play,  should  be  conducted  in  such  a  way  as  to  be 
a  valuable  experience  to  them.  Work  at  regular 
times  for  a  just  compensation  develops  and  educates 
a  child,  providing  the  work  is  not  too  hard  or  too 
specialized  and  if  he  has  left  sufficient  time  for 
study  and  for  recreation.  Many  children  would  be 
the  better  for  a  few  hours'  work  a  day  for  a  part  of 
the  time  and  the  money  earned  would  make  it  pos- 
sible for  many  of  them  to  continue  studying  under 
healthful  conditions  longer  than  would  othex*wise 
be  possible. 


CHAPTER  IX 

BUSINESS  DEALINGS   OF   CHILDREN 

Street  Trades. — ^The  variety  of  business  car- 
ried on  by  children  is  astonishingly  great.  Boot- 
blacking  has  long  been  a  business  for  children  in 
cities,  but  boot-blacking  parlors  have  now  largely 
taken  the  place  of  the  street  trade.  Newspapers 
they  still  sell,  but  much  of  the  business  is  now  con- 
ducted by  some  central  adult  agency.  The  chief 
business  activity  of  the  newsboy  is  in  hustling  for 
customers  and  in  making  change  in  delivering  pa- 
pers. Where  a  boy  has  a  paper  route  and  collects 
his  pay  every  week  he  has  to  keep  accounts  in  at 
least  a  crude  way. 

Taking  subscriptions  for  papers  and  acting  as 
agent  for  selling  various  small  articles  is  such  a 
prominent  form  of  child  business  that  some  firms 
make  a  specialty  of  securing  child  agents.  These 
firms  often  offer,  instead  of  money,  some  article 
that  children  desire,  as  a  reward  for  selling.     In 

n 


BUSINESS    DEALINGS  73 

many  instances  the  articles  are  not  sold  on  their 
merit,  but  because  the  customers  wish  to  help  the 
child.  This  kind  of  business  is  often  of  question- 
able value  to  the  children. 

Farming. — In  rural  districts  a  common  way  of 
making  money  is  through  stock  raising  and  agri- 
cultural operations.  Unfortunately  parents  do  not 
always  allow  this  business  to  be  conducted.  Some 
farmers  allow  a  boy  to  call  a  hog  or  a  calf  his  until 
it  is  sold,  then  they  take  some  or  all  of  the  money 
themselves.  This  is  giving  them  an  example  of  dis- 
honest double-dealing  that  is  worse  than  ordinary 
business  dishonesty,  because  practised  on  a  child. 
In  other  cases  the  father  is  perhaps  too  easy  and 
Hberal,  allowing  a  child  to  acquire  stock  without  ef- 
fort, feed  it  out  of  the  father's  bin  and  use  all  the 
money  it  brings.  In  other  cases  a  more  definite  busi- 
ness arrangement  is  made  by  which  the  child  is 
justly  entitled  to  the  calf  or  pig  and  to  feed  for  it. 
In  such  instances  a  definite  account  may  be  kept,  and 
this,  as  the  child  gets  older,  is  decidedly  the  best 
plan. 

In  raising  vegetables  or  other  crops  a  variety  of 
methods  similar  to  those  involved  in  stock  raising 
are  practised.  Recently  the  national  and  state  gov- 
ernments and  also  commercial  bodies  and  schools  as 
well,  have  encouraged  farming  ventures  by  chil- 
dren.   These,  in  the  South  and  West,  usually  take 


74  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

the  form  of  corn  clubs  for  boys  and  tomato  clubs 
for  girls. 

Not  only  do  the  children  carry  on  the  work,  but 
they  purchase  the  seed  and  fertilizer,  market  the 
crop  and  keep  a  complete  account  of  all  expenditures 
and  receipts.  This  gives  them  an  excellent  general 
business  training  as  well  as  special  agricultural 
training  which  is  described  further  in  Part  II. 

Various  Means. — In  both  city  and  country 
children  frequently  engage  in  raising  vegetables, 
fruits  and  flowers  and  often  make  a  good  deal  of 
money,  besides  winning  prizes  at  fairs  and  gaining 
business  experience.  One  girl  raised,  on  a  small 
city  lot,  flowers  that  she  sold  for  nearly  two  hun- 
dred dollars. 

Picking  wild  fruit  and  flowers  and  selling  them 
are  means  of  making  money  frequently  resorted  to 
by  rural  children  and  by  those  living  where  they 
can  easily  get  into  the  country.  Buying  traps  and 
guns  and  getting  furs  and  game  to  sell  is  a  method 
of  making  money  that  was  once  practised  a  great 
deal  by  boys,  but  is  now  less  practicable.  This  has 
in  many  cases  given  place  to  the  rearing  of  rabbits, 
birds  and  other  pets  for  sale.  Besides  these  more 
common  ways  of  making  money  there  are  hundreds 
of  others,  varying  according  to  the  locality  and  in- 
genuity of  the  children.  With  a  large  proportion  of 
them  the  parents  have  little  to  do. 


BUSINESS    DEALINGS  75 

Parents  Should  Know  of  Child's  Business 
Dealings. — In  nearly  every  case  the  business  car- 
ried on  by  the  child  himself  gives  him  a  very  valu- 
able form  of  financial  training.  It  is  frequently 
best  that  the  child  shall,  in  the  main,  be  left  to  him- 
self in  such  business  ventures.  Parents  should, 
however,  know  what  is  being  done  and  see  that  the 
child  engages  in  nothing  that  is  unhealthful  or  il- 
legitimate, such  as  taking  lead  pipe  from  empty 
houses  and  selling  it.  More  children  are  brought 
before  the  juvenile  court  for  selling  stolen  junk 
than  for  any  other  cause.  Three  hundred  such  ar- 
rests were  made  in  Chicago  in  one  year. 

Children  Not  Responsible  for  a  Livelihood. — 
In  the  previous  discussion  it  is  supposed  that  the 
making  of  money  is  not  an  absolute  necessity  for 
children,  but  only  a  means  of  getting  things  that 
they  want.  In  poor  families  both  parents  and  chil- 
dren often  feel  that  the  children  must  earn  money. 
This  is  an  undesirable  condition.  It  is  not  well  that 
children  should  at  an  early  age  be  oppressed  by  the 
feeling  that  they  must  provide  the  necessities  of  life. 
The  period  of  infancy  and  early  childhood  is  natu- 
rally a  protected  one  and  only  gradually  should  chil- 
dren come  to  feel  the  necessity  of  making  a  living. 
Parents  should  take  that  responsibility  and  should 
be  at  some  pains  to  prevent  the  young  child  from 
feeling  it  too  early  or  too  strongly.    The  necessities 


76  THE   USE   OF,   MONEY 

of  the  home  should  if  possible  be  provided  by  par- 
ents, but  the  child  may  early  learn  to  provide  for  his 
own  luxuries  and  sometimes  for  articles  of  clothing. 

Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Early  Busi- 
ness Experience. — Engaging  in  business  for  him- 
self gives  the  child  the  most  direct  and  stimulating 
financial  training  of  any  method  of  getting  money. 
There  are,  however,  disadvantages  in  having  chil- 
dren engaged  in  business  a  great  deal.  The  com- 
mercial spirit  may  be  developed  too  early  and  too 
strongly,  at  the  expense  of  kindness,  faith  in  others 
and  good  fellowship.  There  is  always  the  tempta- 
tion also  to  resort  to  tricks  or  dishonest  practises 
when  the  child  is  very  eager  to  make  money.  The 
parent,  therefore,  should  not  only  know  where  the 
things  dealt  in  are  obtained  and  how,  but  should 
know  how  business  is  being  carried  on  and,  by  occa- 
sional advice  and  suggestion,  prevent  the  child  from 
being  cheated  and  so  as  to  guard  against  any  dis- 
honest practises  on  his  part. 

Typical  Examples  of  Earning  Money. — "One 
of  the  first  experiences  of  earning  money  which  I 
remember  was  when  I  was  about  four  years  of  age. 
My  brother  and  I  picked  up  several  baskets  of  early 
fall  apples  and  sold  them  for  a  few  pennies  to  people 
passing.  The  thought  of  pleasure  rather  than  earn- 
ing money  was  uppermost  in  our  minds." 

The  following  is  an  interesting  instance  of  encour- 


BUSINESS    DEALINGS  17 

agement  to  earn  money  that  was  given  by  a  Sunday- 
school  superintendent : 

"A  few  years  ago  our  Sunday-school  superin- 
tendent gave  twenty-five  dollars  to  the  Sunday- 
school  to  be  divided  among  the  pupils,  and  each  pu- 
pil was  to  try  to  see  how  much  he  could  increase  his 
share  during  one  year.  The  pupils  in  my  class  were 
given  twenty-five  cents  apiece.  I  bought  a  dozen 
eggs  with  my  money  and  set  them.  In  three  weeks 
I  had  seven  chickens.  When  they  were  large  enough 
I  sold  the  four  pullets  and  later  I  had  the  roosters 
killed  and  sold  them.  After  taking  out  what  it  cost 
to  feed  them  I  found  I  had  increased  my  twenty- 
five  cents  to  about  three  dollars.  Then  I  began  to 
buy  cloth  and  made  and  sold  aprons.  With  the 
profit  from  these  I  made  about  six  dollars.  With 
this  experience  I  learned  that  twenty-five  cents  could 
be  increased  greatly  with  the  use  of  a  little  spare 
time  and  labor." 


CHAPTER  X 


SAVING    MONEY 


Most  Parents  Encourage  Saving. — In  a  pre- 
ceding chapter  we  considered  saving  money  for  spe- 
cific purposes.  In  this  we  consider  saving,  not  for 
a  specific  object,  but  in  order  to  have  money  that 
may  be  used  in  any  desired  way  at  a  future  time. 

This  is  the  financial  ideal  that  parents  more  gen- 
erally try  to  develop  in  their  children  than  any  other. 
With  very  few  exceptions  parents  who  do  anything 
at  all  to  give  their  children  financial  training  either 
require  or  encourage,  in  various  ways,  the  saving  of 
money  for  a  more  or  less  indefinite  future  use. 
Sometimes  this  emphasized  but  little  understood  ac- 
tion affects  children  in  much  the  same  way  as  re- 
ligious rites  or  those  of  superstition  and  fear.  Just 
as  an  unseen  danger  may  arouse  more  fear  than  one 
that  is  known,  or  the  unknown  results  of  a  ceremony 
may  make  it  impressive,  so  the  indefinite,  unknown 
value  of  hoarded  money  may  impel  to  sacrifice  in 
saving. 

78 


SAVING    MONEY  79 

Intelligent  Saving  Slowly  Learned. — A  knowl- 
edge of  the  real  reasons  for  saving  and  an  ap- 
preciation of  the  desirability  of  doing  so,  rather 
than  a  superstitious  feeling  that  saving  is  a  vir- 
tue, are,  however,  very  slow  in  developing.  Only 
after  a  child  has  developed  an  idea  of  the  use  of 
money  for  buying  now,  and  of  the  advantage  of 
waiting  to  buy  something  more  worth  while  in  the 
future,  can  he  have  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 
desirability  of  having  money  on  hand  for  anything 
that  he  may  want  in  the  future. 

Only  the  experience  of  being  unable  to  buy  a  very 
much  desired  article  because  of  not  having  saved 
money  can  give  a  child  a  real  appreciation  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  saving  for  possible  and  probable  future 
needs.  Often  many  such  experiences  are  needed  be- 
fore this  probable  future  need  is  as  strong  a  stim- 
ulus as  a  definite  object  for  which  the  money  is  to  be 
used  now  or  in  the  future. 

Miss  Pahncr,  in  her  study  of  the  savings  of  Chi- 
cago children,  found  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
poorer  children  saved  for  some  definite  end,  such  as 
to  buy  clothing  or  Christmas  presents,  while  the 
children  oi  the  rich  more  often  saved  for  some  in- 
definite future. 

The  following  illustrates  how  children  may  save 
without  gaining  any  real  appreciation  of  what  it 
means : 


80  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

"I  received  money  as  gifts  from  an  uncle  of  mine, 
but  I  did  not  care  for  them  at  the  time,  for  I  always 
had  to  put  them  in  the  bank  or  I  knew  he  would 
never  give  me  any  more." 

"I  remember  when  I  was  quite  young  that  my 
grandmother  put  money  in  the  bank  for  me,  but  I 
didn't  appreciate  it  at  the  time  and  couldn't  under- 
stand why  she  didn't  give  it  to  me  if  she  wanted  me 
to  have  it.  It  was  some  time  later,  while  overhear- 
ing a  discussion  of  money  and  bank  books,  that  it 
came  to  me  that  I  could  use  it  whenever  I  needed  it, 
even  if  it  were  locked  up  in  a  safe." 

In  such  cases  as  this  the  money  may  prove  useful ; 
and  when  that  happens  the  idea  that  thrift  is  a  good 
thing  is  made  prominent.  Having  children  save, 
whether  they  appreciate  it  or  not,  may  therefore  be 
justified  on  the  ground  of  utility  and  because  the  les- 
son is  learned  and  appreciated  some  time.  This  may 
be  admitted,  and  yet  it  may  be  said  that  a  still  better 
plan  for  parents  who  know  how  to  do  it  is  to  give 
lessons  in  saving  that  will  be  appreciated  earlier. 

Having  money  on  hand  is  the  contrast  of  being 
in  debt.  The  one  who  has  money  ahead  can  buy 
when  there  is  an  opportunity  and  at  a  bargain,  while 
the  one  who  is  in  debt  can  not  do  so  but  must  use  his 
money  as  fast  as  he  gets  it  to  pay,  perhaps  with  in- 
terest, for  pleasures  already  past.  The  child's  at- 
tention may  well  be  called  to  contrasting  cases  of 


SAVING    MONEY  81 

adults  ^vho  save  and  have  money  on  hand  and  those 
who  go  in  debt ;  but  a  stronger  influence  will  be  his 
own  actual  experiences  and  those  of  companions.  In 
order  that  such  instances  may  give  the  proper  les- 
son the  one  who  has  nothing  ahead  or  is  in  debt 
ought  not  to  be  helped  by  a  loan  whenever  he  desires 
it  to  buy  what  he  wants,  or  by  gifts  to  get  him  out 
of  debt.  If  he  is,  he  is  likely  to  conclude  that  saving 
and  keeping  money  on  hand  do  not  pay,  since  the 
one  who  spends  his  money  as  fast  as  he  gets  it  is 
helped  by  gifts  more  than  the  one  who  always  has 
money  ahead. 

The  encouragement  of  saving  is  so  common 
among  self-supporting  people  that  it  is  scarcely  nec- 
essary to  say  anything  to  induce  parents  to  do  their 
duty  in  this  direction.  It  is  perhaps  worth  while, 
however,  to  emphasize  the  point  that  although  money 
saved  in  childhood  is  sometimes  a  great  help  to  the 
young  man  or  young  woman,  yet  the  most  important 
thing  is  not  the  fact  that  money  is  saved,  but  the  ed- 
ucational effect  on  the  one  who  saves.  This  is  often 
described  as  the  habit  of  saving.  Sometimes  it  is 
this  and  nothing  more.  In  such  cases  a  change  in 
conditions,  whereby  the  youth  takes  full  control  of 
his  own  finances,  may  cause  the  habit  to  disappear. 
This  is  often  the  case  where  the  saving  has  been 
more  or  less  compulsory  or  at  least  artificially  pro- 
duced. 


82  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

Another  effect  is  the  formation  of  an  ideal  of 
saving  based  on  observation  and  experience  of  the 
benefits  resulting.  This  and  the  idea  of  how  best  to 
use  money  are  the  most  important  aims  in  financial 
training. 

Modes  of  Saving. — The  most  common  way  in 
which  children  save  money  is  by  putting  it  in  a  small 
bank  to  be  put  in  a  savings  bank  later.  Many  make 
use  of  the  school  stamp-saving  system.  A  few  put 
it  in  a  cooperative  bank,  and  others  merely  give  it 
to  a  parent  to  keep  for  them.  Relatives  usually  en- 
courage all  forms  of  saving,  frequently  by  giving 
the  child  some  money  to  start  with,  adding  to  what 
he  puts  in  the  bank  by  making  it  a  condition  on 
which  money  is  given  that  a  certain  amount  shall 
be  saved. 

Occasionally  children,  instead  of  putting  money 
in  a  bank,  invest  it  in  some  form  such  as  in  bonds 
or  property,  with  the  advice  of  an  older  person.  A 
boat  or  a  bicycle  may  be  bought  partly  as  an  invest- 
ment for  carrying  on  some  kind  of  business  and 
partly  as  a  source  of  pleasure.  The  following  illus- 
trates the  more  usual  modes  of  saving: 

"Between  the  ages  of  six  and  twelve  I  saved  a 
great  deal  of  the  money  that  was  given  me.  I  used 
a  toy  bank  at  home  and  when  it  became  filled  I  trans- 
ferred it  to  the  stamp  book  at  school." 

"Nearly  all  the  money  I  earned  or  had  given  to 


SAVING    MONEY  83 

me  was  put  into  the  bank.  I  had  a  small  bank  at 
home  and  when  I  had  enough  in  it  I  took  it  to  the 
savings  bank.  Some  of  the  money  was  spent  for 
candy  and  such  things." 

"On  my  tenth  birthday  my  father  gave  me  a  five- 
dollar  bill.  He  has  done  this  for  my  brother  also 
and  probably  will  give  my  sister  one  on  her  tenth 
birthday.  We  have  all  put  this  in  the  bank  and  used 
it  as  our  nest  egg.  We  wouldn't  think  of  ever  draw- 
ing out  the  last  five  dollars.  The  summer  after  I 
was  ten  years  old  I  got  twenty-five  cents  a  week  for 
getting  the  mail  for  one  of  our  neighbors.  This  I 
also  put  in  the  bank." 

"The  only  way  I  saved  money  from  the  ages  of 
six  to  twelve  was  by  the  stamp  savings  system  in  the 
schools.  The  money  was  given  me  each  week,  gen- 
erally five  cents,  and  when  I  had  the  book  filled  with 
stamps  I  drew  out  the  money  and  placed  it  in  the 
l)ank.  This  is  the  way  my  saving  by  a  bank  ac- 
count started." 

Some  convenient  means  for  saving  that  appeals  to 
children  is  usually  necessary  to  induce  them  to  save. 
The  interest  of  the  device  used  and  the  practise  of 
companions  and  adults  are  frequently  more  influ- 
ential in  getting  a  child  to  save  than  any  real  appre- 
ciation of  the  advantages  of  the  practise,  as  the  fol- 
lowing partially  illustrates: 

"The  earliest  I  can  remember  in  connection  with 


84  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

money  was  my  childish  joy  in  putting  pennies  into 
my  A.  B.  C.  bank.  I  was  not  over  five  years  old  I 
am  sure.  Then,  every  few  days  I  delighted  in  shak- 
ing out  the  money  and  having  mamma  count  it  for 
me.  Something  to  which  I  looked  forward  each 
Sunday  was  depositing  proudly  my  penny  in  the 
basket  at  Sunday-school,  as  we  marched  around 
singing,  'Dropping,  dropping,  little  pennies,  hear 
them  as  they  fall.'  When  I  had  a  birthday  and 
stood  up  all  alone  before  the  class,  dropping  the 
number  of  pennies  I  was  years  old  into  a  large  glass 
bank,  I  certainly  did  feel  very  happy  and  very  im- 
portant." 

Attractive  devices,  ceremonies  and  competition 
are  usually  effective  with  small  children.  This  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  above. 

Youths  are  more  influenced  by  having  their  atten- 
tion called  to  the  advantages  that  have  come  to  them- 
selves and  others  from  saving.  They  are  nearly 
always  surprised  to  find  how  much  a  small  amount 
saved  every  week  will  amount  to  in  a  year  or  in  ten 
years. 

"I  find  it  very  hard  to  save  money  now  unless  I 
put  it  in  the  bank  at  once.  For  a  time  I  tried  keep- 
ing my  pennies  in  a  little  box  until  I  got  five  dollars, 
and  then  I  put  this  sum  in  the  bank.  That  worked 
well  for  a  time,  but  later  on  when  I  wanted  extra 
money  I'd  break  open  the  box  and  take  out  what  I 


SAVING   MONEY  85 

needed.  Now  out  of  my  allowance  I  am  supposed 
to  buy  my  gloves  and  shoes  and  any  small  article, 
also  pay  my  car  fares.  At  first  I  ran  over  my  allow- 
ance every  month,  but  now  I  usually  manage  to  save 
a  dollar  a  month.  I  send  this  to  my  mother  to  put 
in  the  bank  at  home  for  me.  One  rather  unusual 
way  in  which  I  tried  to  save  money  when  I  was 
younger  was  by  putting  a  small  amount  in  at  least 
six  small  pocketbooks  and  then  hiding  them  all  in 
different  places.  Sometimes  I'd  forget  where  one 
of  them  was  and  nothing  pleased  me  more  than  find- 
ing one  unexpectedly." 


CHAPTER  XI 

FINANCIAL    RESPONSIBILITIES   OF    CHILDREN 

What  This  Means. — A  little  girl  knocks  a 
tumbler  off  the  table  and  breaks  it,  or  a  boy  throws 
a  stone  through  the  window.  What  shall  be  done 
about  it?  In  many  homes  they  receive  a  slap,  a 
scolding  or  a  caution  about  being  careful.  In  other 
homes  the  child  asks,  "How  much  did  it  cost?"  and 
goes  to  his  bank  and  gets  the  money.  Where  chil- 
dren have  money  of  their  own  and  are  held  respon- 
sible for  any  damage  they  may  have  caused  to  prop- 
erty they  expect  as  a  matter  of  course  to  pay  for  all 
damages  that  they  produce. 

This  responsibility  may  be  developed  in  children 
at  eight  or  ten  years  of  age  or  even  earlier.  Whether 
such  an  advanced  stage  of  financial  training  should 
be  reached  so  early  is  questioned  by  some,  but  cer- 
tainly before  leaving  home  the  child  should  have 
learned  to  be  financially  responsible. 

Financial  responsibility  can  not  be  properly  de- 
veloped apart  from  other  forms  of  responsibility. 
Training  in  responsibility  begins  when  a  child  is  re- 

86 


FINANCIAL    RESi'jNSIBILITIES       87 

quired  to  pick  up  his  own  plajiihings  and  to  return 
to  their  proper  places  things  that  he  has  removed. 
It  is  given  to  some  extent  when  a  toy  that  the  child 
has  destroyed  is  not  replaced  and  Wi^^ii  >""^  is  not  al- 
lowed to  have  anything  that  he  mistreats.  It  is 
given  when  a  child  is  cautioned  but  not  prevented 
from  doing  something  that  will  hurt  him,  but  not 
too  seriously,  such  as  touching  a  hot  object.  Such 
experiences  teach  him  that  his  own  acts  bring  inevi- 
table results. 

Financial  responsibility  is  felt  when  a  child  is  first 
allowed  to  spend  money  as  he  wishes  and  again 
when  he  must  do  something  in  order  to  get  money. 
It  is  more  definitely  prepared  for  by  previous  finan- 
cial training  in  which  the  child  has  found  that  things 
cost  money  and  has  experienced  the  loss  or  destruc- 
tion of  what  belongs  to  him.  A  boy  of  eight  who 
had  a  bicycle  of  his  own  and  a  regular  allowance 
was  warned  not  to  leave  the  bicycle  out  in  the  rain 
and  sun.  He  did  it,  however,  and  a  rim  was  warped 
so  that  it  cost  two  dollars  to  repair  it.  The  boy  paid 
without  complaint  and  was  more  careful  afterward. 

Ownership  and  Responsibility. — The  child's 
own  experiences  enable  him  to  appreciate  that  things 
belonging  to  other  people  cost  money  and  should  be 
replaced  if  destroyed.  For  instance,  if  some  one  has 
lost  or  broken  something  belonging  to  him  and  has 
purchased  a  new  article  or  given  money  for  getting 


88  THE   USE   Op    MONEY 

another,  he  is  quite  ready  then  to  see  that  he  should 
make  good  any  damage  that  he  has  caused.  Boys 
who  have  been  very  destructive  of  property  have 
been  known  to  become  very  careful,  after  getting  a 
toy  or  a  garden  plot  of  their  own,  to  refrain  from 
inter'"ering  with  those  of  others.  It  is  almost  im- 
posiible  for  an  adult  and  still  more  difficult  for  a 
child  to  understand  rights  and  responsibilities  that 
he  has  never  had  himself;  hence  a  child  has  little 
respect  for  property  until  he  has  been  an  owner  and 
suffered  loss  through  his  own  acts  or  those  of  an- 
other. 

It  is  not  necessary  at  first  that  the  child  should 
pay  for  the  exact  amount  of  damage  that  he  has 
done.  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  develop  the  idea 
that  the  child  is  responsible  and  should  do  some- 
thing to  replace  property  he  has  destroyed.  As  he 
comes  to  know  more  about  figures  more  exact  esti- 
mates should  be  made.  It  is  not  necessary,  however, 
that  the  child  should  in  all  cases  pay  the  full  amount. 
If  a  girl  is  helping  her  mother  wipe  dishes  and  acci- 
dentally drops  one  and  breaks  it  there  is  good  ground 
for  saying  that  she  should  not  pay  the  whole  cost  of 
the  dish.  It  is  probably  well  to  charge  half  the  cost 
of  any  article  injured  when  handling  it  for  legiti- 
mate purposes.  If  a  child  meddles  with  something 
that  he  has  no  business  to  touch  and  damage  results, 
more  may  properly  be  charged. 


FINANCIAL    RESPONSIBILITIES      89 

Punishment  and  Paying. — If  property  is  inten- 
tionally injured  full  damage  should  of  course  be 
paid  and  further  punishment  may  sometimes  be  jus- 
tifiable. Where  a  child  is  held  financially  responsi- 
ble for  damage  to  property  he  should  not  in  general 
receive  any  other  punishment  than  this  natural  one 
of  making  good  the  loss.  The  only  possible  excep- 
tion to  this  would  be  in  cases  where  the  child  has 
not  only  damaged  property  but  has  intentionally 
tried  to  injure  some  one  in  that  way.  In  such  cases 
a  clear  distinction  should  be  made  between  paying 
for  property  and  atoning  for  an  unkind  act  toward 
some  one.  If  a  child  is  scolded  when  he  has  to  pay 
for  property  unintentionally  damaged  he  feels  that 
he  is  receiving  a  double  punishment  and  is  likely  to 
consider  that  the  whole  thing  is  arbitrary.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  parent  calmly  and  sympathetically 
discusses  the  loss  caused  by  accident  or  even  by  some 
degree  of  carelessness,  and  charges  only  a  reason- 
able sum,  the  child  feels  that  in  making  good  the 
loss  he  is  only  doing  what,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
justice  demands. 

Justice. — It  is  important  above  all  things  that 
the  child  shall  feel  that  he  is  being  dealt  with  justly 
and  sometimes  generously.  A  merchant  employed 
his  boy  to  unpack  some  lamps,  agreeing  to  pay  him 
a  quarter  for  doing  it.  The  boy  broke  a  lamp  that 
had  cost  a  quarter  and  the  father  paid  the  boy  noth- 


90  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

ing  because  the  boy  had  caused  him  that  much  loss. 
The  boy  felt  that  he  had  been  unjustly  treated  be- 
cause he  had  performed  all  that  work  without  any 
reward.  The  father  intended  to  be  strictly  just,  but 
probably  reasoned  incorrectly.  In  any  case  he  should 
have  been  sure  enough  of  his  grounds  to  be  able 
to  convince  the  boy  that  he  was  right  before  fully 
deciding  not  to  make  a  more  liberal  settlement  with 
him.  He  might  have  reasoned  in  this  way :  *T  am 
out  the  cost  of  the  lamp  and  you  are  out  the  effort  of 
unpacking  the  lamps,  and  since  the  breaking  of  the 
lamp  was  an  accident  for  which  3''ou  were  not  inten- 
tionally responsible  we  will  share  the  loss." 

In  another  case,  a  boy  of  twelve,  in  hitching  up  a 
horse,  left  it  for  a  moment  with  only  one  shaft  fas- 
tened. The  horse  started  and  when  it  felt  the  un- 
equal strain  became  frightened  and  ran  away,  break- 
ing the  shafts.  The  father  charged  the  boy  with 
half  the  cost.  He  paid  it  without  much  protest  yet 
claimed  that  he  was  not  responsible  for  what  the 
iwrse  did.  He  had  on  his  side  the  extenuating  facts 
that  he  had  not  been  expressly  told  about  the  dan- 
ger of  leaving  a  horse  in  that  condition,  and  the 
further  fact  that  another  boy  stood  near  whom  he 
thought  would  look  after  the  horse.  It  is  true  that 
the  father  showed  some  impatience  at  the  time  and 
this  probably  contributed  to  the  feeling  of  the  boy 
that  he  was  not  being  justly  treated.     If  this  had 


FINANCIAL    RESrONSIBILITIES       91 

been  the  first  time  that  he  had  been  held  financially 
responsible  it  would  have  had  a  bad  effect  on  him, 
but  he  was  fully  accustomed  to  being  held  responsi- 
ble for  losses  he  had  caused  and  had  gained  a  good 
deal  of  confidence  in  his  father's  justice  and  kind- 
ness, hence  the  one  instance  in  which  he  felt  himself 
not  treated  justly  did  not  destroy  his  confidence  in 
his  father  or  in  the  principle  of  paying  for  damage 
done. 

Assuming  Responsibilities. — Children  should 
be  expected  to  assume  many  other  responsibilities 
besides  those  for  property,  and  if  they  have  a  suffi- 
cient allowance  they  are  usually  willing  to  do  so. 
When  they  buy  Christmas  or  birthday  presents  for 
others  it  should  be  out  of  their  own  money.  Their 
contributions  to  church  and  Sunday-school  and  to 
other  societies  should  also  be  paid  from  their  own 
allowances.  Later,  class  and  society  dues  and  some 
or  all  of  their  small  personal  expenses  should  be 
paid  by  themselves.  Entertainments  for  their  own 
amusement  would  usually  come  under  this  class, 
but  .something  attended  at  the  advice  of  parents,  for 
cultural  and  educational  purposes,  may  very  well  be 
paid  for  by  parents.  Of  course  there  is  no  objection 
to  parents  giving  their  children  occasional  free 
treats  of  any  kind  they  deem  fitting. 

It  is  a  very  good  result  of  financial  training  when 
children  are  ready,  without  suggestion,  to  assume 


92  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

new  financial  responsibility.  It  is  not  unusual  for 
them  to  take  pride  in  buying  some  of  their  own 
clothing  or  in  getting  some  treat  for  other  members 
of  the  family.  The  highest  result  of  financial  train- 
ing is  the  appreciation  of  money,  not  merely  as  a 
means  of  gratifying  one's  own  desires  and  meeting 
just  claims  on  one,  but  as  a  means  of  contributing 
to  the  pleasure  of  others. 

Typical  Examples. — A  few  of  the  various 
ways  in  which  parents  deal  with  the  destruction  of 
property,  and  the  varying  effects  of  these  ways  on 
their  children,  are  illustrated  below. 

"As  a  child  I  was  not  held  responsible  for  break- 
ing or  damaging  goods.  If  I  broke  a  dish  that  was 
valuable  I  received  a  scolding  but  was  not  obliged  to 
pay  for  it.  If  the  dish  or  article  was  not  valuable 
I  did  not  always  receive  a  scolding.  Occasionally, 
however,  I  was  made  to  pay  for  library  books  kept 
over  time,  if  I  let  several  run  by  the  date  for  re- 
turning. I  practically  never  had  to  pay  for  broken 
goods." 

*T  never  had  to  pay  for  anything  I  broke,  and  my 
father  usually  replaced  anything  I  needed  or  wanted 
very  badly.  I  do  not  remember  of  his  ever  scolding 
or  punishing  me  when  I  had  destroyed  or  injured 
anything.  Instead,  he  made  me  feel  sorry  by  telling 
me  that  many  children  never  had  such  nice  things 
and  that  if  I  didn't  like  them  and  take  good  care  of 


FINANCIAL   RESPONSIBILITIES      93 

what  I  had  he  would  give  the  articles  to  those  whom 
he  knew  would  be  very  thankful  and  careful.  In 
most  cases  my  father's  own  sorrowful  manner  when 
I  had  broken  anything  made  me  feel  badly.  As 
something  was  generally  put  in  the  place  of  the  ar- 
ticle destroyed  I  did  not  miss  the  latter  and  was  not 
punished  by  going  without  it.  I  remember  having 
to  mend  torn  leaves  in  a  book  and  I  know  that  made 
me  careful  not  to  tear  any  more  leaves,  as  I  did  not 
like  the  task." 

"When  I  was  a  child  I  used  to  feel  very  badly 
when  I  broke  anything.  If  it  happened  when  no 
one  was  around  I  hated  very  much  to  tell  my  mother 
about  it,  and  I  would  put  it  off  as  long  as  I  could. 
Finally,  however,  I  would  tell  her.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber ever  being  spanked  for  breaking  anything  but  I 
know  that  my  mother  used  to  speak  to  me  about  my 
carelessness  and  sometimes  scold  me  quite  severely. 
However,  when  it  was  over  a  great  load. was  lifted 
from  my  heart  and  I  soon  forgot  all  about  it." 

"One  day,  a  few  years  ago,  I  became  very  anxious 
to  go  out  with  my  playmates,  who  were  enjoying 
themselves  by  playing  games.  Mother  said,  'You 
may  go  out  and  play,  but  mend  your  dress  before 
you  go.  Remember  a  stitch  in  time  saves  nine.' 
However,  I  forgot,  and  ran  out  without  mending 
the  dress.  Just  when  we  were  having  a  merry  time 
that  little  ripped  place  in  my  dress  caught  on  a  nail 


94  JHE   USE   OF    MONEY 

and  before  I  knew  what  was  happening  the  whole 
hem  was  ripped  off.  I  had  to  stop  playing  and  go 
home.  I  knew  I  would  have  to  mend  my  dress  my- 
self, and  I  knew  it  would  take  the  rest  of  the  after- 
noon to  do  it.  My  mother  handed  me  a  sewing 
basket  and  said,  *A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine.'  A 
stitch  in  time  would  have  saved  me  at  least  fifty- 
nine  that  day.  Every  Saturday  mother  gave  me 
ten  cents  and  I  always  looked  forward  to  it,  but  on 
this  day  I  was  much  disappointed  for  I  was  told 
that  I  could  have  no  more  money  for  two  months. 
It  was  saved  toward  buying  another  dress.  Without 
doubt  I  should  have  learned  a  lesson  even  if  I  only 
had  to  mend  my  dress,  but  when  I  could  not  have 
my  money  I  realized  that  even  a  dress  for  play  was 
of  some  value." 

"My  parents  did  not  believe  in  punishing  me  when 
I  broke  anything.  My  father's  idea  was,  and  still 
is,  that  no  one  breaks  anything  on  purpose,  and  that 
it  is  not  carelessness.  As  a  rule  I  did  not  break  very 
many  things  when  I  was  a  child." 

"When  any  property  was  destroyed,  such  as  win- 
dows, I  was  usually  given  a  whipping,  while  my 
folks  paid  for  the  damages." 

"If  I  broke  or  destroyed  anything  that  be- 
longed to  a  person  outside  of  my  own  family, 
whether  on  purpose  or  accidentally,  if  it  was  of  any 
value  I  was  required  by  my  parents  to  pay  for  it 


FINANCIAL    RESPONSIBILITIES      95 

out  of  my  own  money.    In  my  own  home  if  I  broke 
anything  by  accident,  I  was  not  obliged  to  pay  for 
it  but  in  case  I  did  it  on  purpose  I  was  punished  and  . 
had  to  pay  for  it  too." 

"When  I  broke  dishes  I  was  never  made  to  pay 
for  them  but  my  mother  always  pretended  to  feel  so 
badly  or,  if  it  was  a  good  dish,  really  did  sorrow  so 
much  that  I  had  a  great  horror  of  the  occurrence. 
The  times  I  felt  most  seriously  were  when  I  broke 
anything  of  my  own.  It  seemed  more  terrible  than 
ever  then.  When  in  school  I  always  paid  for  any- 
thing I  broke  and  in  a  private  school  which  I  at- 
tended the  principal  always  told  us  if  w^e  broke  any- 
thing to  report  to  him  at  once  and  he  would  tell  us 
what  to  do  about  the  matter.  This  always  seemed 
a  matter  of  course  to  us  all,  and  so  when  we  broke 
anything  the  first  thing  we  did  was  to  report  to  him, 
and  the  next,  to  do  whatever  he  decided  on  in  pay- 
ment for  the  loss." 

"I  do  not  remember  of  ever  destroying  or  break- 
ing anything  except  lamp  chimneys  and  other  small 
breakable  articles  before  I  was  sixteen  years  old. 
When  I  broke  any  of  these  articles  I  usually  re- 
ceived a  severe  scolding,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  do 
so  very  much  good  as  the  dishes  were  usually  broken 
while  I  was  washing  them  and  they  slipped  out  of 
my  hands  before  I  knew  it.  I  think  it  did  make  me 
a  little  more  careful  though.     Once   I   remember 


96  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

breaking  a  dish  that  my  mother  was  very  fond  of 
and,  fearing  a  scolding,  I  hid  the  dish  in  the  ash 
barrel.  It  was  finally  found  and  mother  was  very 
angry." 

"When  I  was  about  five  years  old  I  took  great 
pleasure  in  watching  my  grandfather  weed  his  gar- 
den. He  explained  to  me  one  day  the  harm  that  the 
weeds  did.  A  few  days  later  I  was  playing  in  a 
neighbor's  yard  and  noticed  a  small  garden  full  of 
what  I  supposed  were  weeds.  I  set  to  work  and 
succeeded  in  pulling  all  of  them  up.  I  then  took  a 
few  home  and  showed  my  grandfather  what  I  had 
done.  He  looked  at  the  'weed'  for  a  minute  and 
then  told  me  that  I  had  pulled  up  all  my  neighbor's 
radishes.  I  had  been  told  never  to  touch  things  that 
didn't  belong  to  me  and  I  knew  I  would  be  punished 
for  this.  My  grandfather  had  given  me  money  from 
time  to  time  so  that  he  knew  I  could  buy  more 
radish  seeds  but  he  also  knew  that  I  wouldn't  con- 
sider this  a  punishment.  So  he  decided  on  a  plan 
that  he  knew  would  be  a  severe  punishment  for  me. 
I  think  I  was  more  afraid  of  strangers  than  most 
children  and  would  never  say  anything  to  persons 
unless  I  knew  them  well.  My  grandfather  there- 
fore gave  me  a  package  of  radish  seeds  and  told  me 
to  go  to  the  neighbor's  and  tell  her  what  I  had  done. 
I  think  no  one  can  realize  how  hard  this  was  for  me. 
I  certainly  will  never  forget  it.    Later,  whenever  I 


FINANCIAL   RESPONSIBILITIES      97 

did  a  wrong  thing,  I  was  punished  in  the  same  way, 
for  my  parents  realized  that  this  was  more  of  a  pun- 
ishment than  anything  else." 

"When  I  was  small  I  had  my  own  playthings  and 
toys  marked  and  so  did  my  brothers  and  sisters.  We 
each  had  a  special  place  in  the  closet  and  a  drawer 
in  a  cabinet  to  keep  them  in.  If  at  any  time  we  bor- 
rowed one  another's  toys  and  lost  or  destroyed  them 
we  had  to  settle  with  the  owner,  sometimes  by  giving 
over  something  that  belonged  to  us,  or  by  paying 
for  the  article.  We  were  taught  to  be  careful  not 
only  of  our  playthings  and  personal  belongings,  but 
also  of  everything  in  our  home.  If  we  accidentally 
broke  a  window,  a  lamp  globe  or  shade  or  something 
of  this  sort  we  were  made  to  pay  for  it  out  of  our 
own  money,  provided  we  had  any  at  that  time,  and 
if  we  didn't  we  were  given  some  extra  work  to  do. 
Maybe  we  had  to  walk  right  up  street  to  the  store 
to  get  a  duplicate  of  what  we  had  broken  and  this 
we  always  thought  a  terrible  punishment." 

A  Broader  View  of  Punishment. — Evidently 
there  are  many  ways  of  training  children  to  be  care- 
ful. Those  parents  who  scold  or  punish  aim  chiefly 
to  make  the  child  more  careful  by  making  the  con- 
sequences of  carelessness  painful  to  him.  Those 
who  do  not  scold  or  punish  but  show  sorrow  im- 
press the  child  with  the  fact  that  injury  to  property 
gives  others  pain,  while  those  who  require  that  the 


98  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

loss  shall  be  made  good  are  bringing  home  to  him 
the  fundamental  truth  that  acts  have  inevitable  re- 
sults and  that  each  person  should,  as  far  as  possible, 
bear  the  consequences  of  his  own  deeds.  Parents 
can  not,  however,  easily  deal  with  children  in  a  way 
contrary  to  their  own  training  and  their  own  phi- 
losophy of  life.  Modern  science  reveals  causes  and 
effects  and  educators  are  taking  the  ground  that  pun- 
ishments should  reveal  truth  by  calling  attention  to 
natural  consequences.  They  do  not  serve  their  real 
purpose  when  they  merely  produce  pain  and  cause 
a  change  in  conduct.  This  accords  with  Herbert 
Spencer's  theory  of  natural  punishments,  as  being 
preferable  to  artificial  ones. 


CHAPTER  XII 


BUYING   CLOTHES 


Paying  for  Necessities. — In  most  cases  where 
children  are  given  an  allowance  they  are  expected 
to  pay  only  for  luxuries  and  a  few  small  necessities. 
Some  parents,  however,  give  an  allowance  designed 
to  cover  all  expenses  including  that  of  clothing, 
usually  with  the  express  idea  of  giving  the  young 
person  training  in  the  use  of  money.  Some  chil- 
dren take  pride  in  being  able  to  buy  important  ar- 
ticles of  clothing  from  their  own  earnings  or  from 
an  allowance  not  intended  to  cover  the  cost  of 
clothing. 

Not  a  Good  Plan  for  Young  Children. — Not 
many  children  i)uy  their  (jwn  clothing  until  they  are 
in  their  teens.  In  most  cases  it  is  not  wise  to  give 
an  allowance  for  that  purpose  earlier,  not  only  be- 
cause the  child  would  not  have  sufficient  foresight 
and  judgment  but  because  some  children  would  per- 
haps not  care  to  dress  so  well  as  their  parents  desire, 
and  hence  might  spend  too  little  on  clothing  and  too 
much   for  other  things.     In  their  teens,  however, 

99 


100  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

when  the  social  and  sex  instincts  develop,  there  are 
few  young  people  who  are  not  anxious  to  conform 
to  the  conventions  and  desirous  of  dressing  as  well 
as  their  companions.  The  most  serious  danger  in 
starting  children  on  the  plan  of  buying  everything 
is  that  they  may  use  up  their  money  nearly  as  fast 
as  they  get  it  and  not  save  enough  for  the  larger 
things  that  must  be  purchased  only  occasionally. 
This  is  a  situation  that  every  one  must  meet  sooner 
or  later  and  it  is  well  that  a  child  should  meet  it  be- 
fore he  is  of  age  and  begins  to  shift  for  himself.  He 
should  suffer  some  of  the  inconvenience  resulting 
from  bad  judgment  or  lack  of  self-control;  yet  help 
in  getting  out  of  the  difficulty,  in  the  form  perhaps 
of  an  opportunity  to  earn  some  extra  money,  may 
better  be  given  the  child  than  later  to  the  young  man. 
It  will  be  less  harmful  to  his  self-respect  and  inde- 
pendence than  it  will  be  after  he  has  started  out 
for  himself.  However,  this  danger  may  be  largely 
avoided  by  starting  the  plan  gradually.  The  results 
of  hastily  entering  on  such  a  plan  are  illustrated  by 
the  following  case,  while  the  second  one  shows  the 
results  when  more  thought  and  self-control  were 
used. 

"When  I  was  thirteen  years  old  I  asked  my  father 
if  he  would  give  me  an  allowance  of  fifty  cents  a 
week,  and  I  said  that  if  he  would  I  would  buy  my 
own  stockings  and  hair  ribbons.    One  of  my  friends 


BUYING   CLOTHES  101 

did  that,  and  I  wanted  to  try  it  too.  All  went  well 
for  a  time  for  it  happened  that  I  had  just  had  a 
fresh  supply  of  these  two  articles  given  me,  but 
when  my  stockings  began  to  wear  out  I  began  to 
wish  I  had  never  made  such  a  contract,  for  I  spent 
my  money  each  week  and  had  not  saved  a  bit  for 
emergencies.  And  what  bothered  me  most  was 
that  they  all  wore  out  at  the  same  time,  and  as  they 
were  not  darned  properly,  owing  to  my  carelessness, 
for  I  had  to  darn  my  own,  they  soon  looked  very 
shabby  indeed.  What  I  did  spend  my  money  for 
each  week  was  mostly  ribbons,  I  loved  pretty  rib- 
bons and  consequently  I  did  not  suffer  for  want  of 
those  ornaments.  However,  it  was  different  with 
the  stockings,  I  do  remember  buying  four  pairs  of 
them  on  throwing  the  last  old  pair  into  the  rag-bag, 
but  it  rather  hurt,  spending  two  whole  weeks'  allow- 
ance for  such  trifling  articles,  and  I  resolved  to  be 
more  careful  of  those,  I  don't  remember  just 
how  long  this  lasted  but  I  think  not  more  than 
a  year,  and  I  know  I  was  ready  long  before  then 
to  go  back  to  my  old  allowance  of  twenty-five  cents 
and  let  my  parents  buy  my  clothing  wholly." 

"When  I  was  a  senior  in  high  school  I  asked  my 
father  for  an  allowance.  Up  to  this  time  whenever 
I  had  wanted  money  I  had  always  asked  him  for  it. 
But  now  I  thought  I'd  rather  have  a  certain  amount 
to  do  with  as  I  wished.    My  father  agreed,  with  the 


102  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

condition  that  I  was  to  ask  him  for  no  other  money 
besides  this;  that  is,  to  spend  for  pleasure.  For  a 
time  I  couldn't  seem  to  manage  it  properly,  for  at 
the  end  of  the  month  I  was  always  out  of  money 
and  often  asked  my  mother  to  lend  me  some  until 
the  next  month.  After  a  time,  however,  I  learned  to 
manage  better  and  soon  had  no  trouble  at  all.  Now 
my  father  gives  me  a  larger  allowance  out  of  which 
I  pay  my  car  fares  and  for  lunches  at  school,  but 
now,  instead  of  running  in  debt,  I  manage  to  save  a 
little  money  each  month.  I  think  the  other  method, 
that  of  asking  for  money  and  getting  it  from  time 
to  time,  causes  less  calculating,  but  the  allowance 
plan  makes  me  feel  more  independent." 

Preliminary  Training  in  Buying. — No  child 
should,  without  any  preliminary  training,  be  given 
the  responsibility  of  purchasing  his  own  clothing. 
He  should  have  had  much  training  in  using  a  limited 
supply  of  money  and  have  learned  to  choose  things 
of  permanent  value,  even  though  he  must  save  for 
some  time  in  order  to  get  them. 

He  should  also  have  gone  shopping  with  his  par- 
ents and  learned  a  good  deal  about  the  cost  of  va- 
rious articles  and  their  durability.  For  several 
years,  too,  he  should  have  been  allowed  some  choice 
as  to  styles  and  colors  of  articles  purchased. 

It  is  sometimes  well  to  begin  with  one  article  of 
clothing,  such  as  shoes,  allowing  the  child  to  have 


BUYING    CLOTHES  103 

anything  left  from  this  allowance  to  use  for 
pleasures.  This  may  be  done  with  children  between 
nine  and  twelve,  who  may  thus  learn  to  economize  a 
good  deal  by  proper  care  of  their  shoes,  such  as 
avoiding  wetting  and  having  them  repaired  at  the 
right  time. 

It  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  youth  be- 
ginning to  buy  his  own  clothing  if  he  has  kept  an 
account  of  all  the  clothing  purchased  for  him  during 
the  previous  year.  This  will  give  him  some  idea  of 
what  he  will  need  and  perhaps  also  help  the  parent 
to  decide  how  much  should  be  allowed  him.  As  he 
gets  older  his  expenses  for  dress  and  social  affairs 
will  be  greater,  and  unless  opportunities  for  earning 
increase  he  will  need  more  each  year. 

Helping  After  the  Plan  Is  Started. — The 
young  person  will  usually  need  and  desire  some  help 
from  parents  in  purchasing  his  clothing  during  the 
first  few  years.  The  reasons  for  buying  one  thing 
rather  than  another  should  be  fully  discussed.  If 
the  parent  believes  in  buying  the  best  rather  than 
the  cheapest,  this  doctrine  may  be  inculcated,  but 
should  admit  of  some  modifications  in  the  case  of 
growing  children  who  are  likely  to  outgrow  the  best 
clothing  before  it  is  worn  out. 

The  experience  of  buying  one's  own  clothing 
gives  a  training  in  advance  of  that  gained  by  spend- 
ing for  pleasures  and  saving  for  what  may  be  de- 


104  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

sired  in  the  future.  It  is  a  considerable  step  in  the 
transition  from  the  protected  condition  of  child- 
hood, in  which  all  necessities  are  provided  and  pur- 
chased for  the  child  and  he  has  only  to  look  out  for 
the  extras,  to  that  stage  in  which  he  must  first  of  all 
provide  the  necessary  things  of  life  and  be  sure  that 
he  has  enough  money  before  he  can  buy  things  that 
he  would  like  but  does  not  really  need.  The  de- 
velopment of  this  tendency  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant preparations  for  successful  financiering  in 
adult  life.  It  is  the  final  lesson  regarding  the  spend- 
ing of  money  which  the  youth  needs  before  he  starts 
out  for  himself. 

The  age  at  which  it  is  best  for  a  child  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  buying  all  his  own  clothing  varies 
greatly  with  the  individual,  not  only  as  regards  pre- 
vious training  but  as  regards  his  natural  disposition. 
One  child  of  twelve  may  be  more  successful  in  man- 
aging an  allowance  for  clothing  than  another  child 
in  the  same  family  who  is  half  a  dozen  years  older. 
It  is  not  best  to  begin  the  plan  if  failure  is  certain 
to  result.  Financial  stability  as  an  adult  is  better 
assured  by  reasonable  success  in  financial  affairs  as 
a  youth,  than  by  complete  failure. 

In  many  instances  it  may  be  well  to  begin  with  a 
few  articles  of  clothing  besides  shoes,  such  as  gloves 
or  ribbons,  and  as  the  child  profits  by  the  experience 


BUYING   CLOTHES  105 

increase  the  allowance  and  the  number  of  things  for 
which  he  or  she  is  responsible.  The  following  illus- 
trates how  parents  may  prepare  children  and  help 
them  to  be  successful  in  buying  necessities. 

"My  father  has  given  me  a  small  allowance  for 
several  years  and  I  put  this  with  what  I  earned.  I 
had  four  small  envelopes  upon  which  I  wrote, 
*Spend,'  'Birthdays,'  'Christmas,'  and  'Save.'  I  di- 
vided my  money  unequally  between  these  envelopes. 
With  the  money  I  saved  I  bought  several  dresses  and 
once  I  saved  long  enough  to  buy  a  muff.  Nearly 
always  I  saved  enough  to  buy  my  gloves  and  some- 
times my  hair  ribbons.  I  always  enjoyed  doing  this 
very  much  because  I  was  helping  and  I  thought  more 
of  the  things  I  bought  with  my  own  money.  It  also 
taught  me  the  value  of  money.  Another  reason  why 
I  enjoyed  saving  my  money  and  buying  things  for 
myself  was  because  my  parents  were  so  pleased  to 
think  I,  myself,  thought  of  the  plan  of  having  four 
envelopes." 

"Before  I  was  fourteen  I  earned  a  great  deal  of 
my  own  money,  earning  from  one  to  two  dollars 
a  week  doing  various  kinds  of  work.  This  money 
had  to  buy  all  my  accessories,  such  as  ribbons,  tan 
shoes  and  stockings,  extra  dresses,  pins,  ties,  etc. 
At  times  I  had  to  buy  the  trimmings  for  my  clothes 
if  I  wished  them  different  from  the  way  my  mother 


106  THE    USE    OF    MONEY 

planned.  Although  I  paid  for  many  of  my  own 
clothes  I  seldom  selected  them,  as  it  took  too  much 
time." 

Children's  Budgets. — No  general  rule  can  be 
given  for  the  budget  of  a  child  of  a  given  age  be- 
cause of  differences  in  neighborhoods  and  in  the 
social  positions  of  families.  It  may  be  well,  how- 
ever, to  modify  the  following  general  schedule  to  fit 
conditions  in  your  neighborhood : 

CLOTHING 

Outside  clothing 

Suits  and  dresses 

Underclothing 

Hats  and  shoes 

Adornments  (ribbons,  ties,  etc.) 

Athletic  and  outing  necessities 

Cleaning,  pressing  and  laundry 

OTHER  NECESSITIES  AND  INCIDENTALS 

Car  fare 

Lunches 

School  or  society  expenses 

Postage  and  stationery 

Benevolences 

Gifts 

Vacation  expenses 

LUXURIES 

Entertainments 

Sports 

Sweets 

Losses  and  breakage 


BUYING    CLOTHES  107 

SUGGESTIONS 

The  following  are  some  of  the  questions  that  need  to  be 
considered :  Which  of  these  items  do  not  need  to  be  consid- 
ered in  j'our  neighborhood?  Do  any  need  to  be  added? 
Would  it  be  well  for  the  parents  to  retain  the  responsibility 
for  some  of  these?  It  would  be  well  if  parents  of  each  com- 
munity should  meet  and  discuss  these  questions  and  make 
estimates  of  what  the  conditions  of  life  in  the  neighborhood 
demand.  If  this  is  not  done  some  children  have  too  much, 
many  are  dissatisfied  and  a  few  really  have  too  little.  A  de- 
tailed estimate  for  each  item  should  be  made  on  the  basis  of 
what  is  known  of  the  facts  in  the  neighborhood.  In  a  club, 
several  should  do  this,  and,  if  possible,  figure  on  a  final  esti- 
mate. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


KEEPING  ACCOUNTS 


Why  Keep  Them? — Keeping  accounts  is  often 
an  enlightening  experience  to  adults  and  may  be 
even  more  so  to  children.  It  is  not  only  a  means 
of  financial  training  but  incidentally  it  gives  train- 
ing in  penmanship,  spelling  and  arithmetic.  Keep- 
ing accounts  also  emphasizes  the  importance  of 
transactions  by  putting  them  on  record.  There  is 
often  hesitancy  in  recording  a  use  of  money  that 
is  admittedly  foolish.  The  greatest  advantage  is 
in  being  able  to  tell  how  much  money  has  been  spent 
for  various  purposes  and  to  plan  more  jyisely  in 
the  future. 

"When  I  was  twelve  years  of  age  my  brother 
had  a  paper  route  and  I  always  considered  it  a  great 
honor  to  be  allowed  to  help  him  with  it.  Finally 
he  made  a  bargain  with  me.  I  was  to  receive  so 
much  a  week  and  have  a  certain  small  portion  of 
the  route  for  myself.  This  necessarily  meant  keep- 
ing a"n  account,  a  thing  very  new  to  me  and  inter- 

108 


KEEPING   ACCOUNTS  109 

esting.  I  usually  came  out  evenly  at  the  end  of  the 
week  and  also  found  it  to  be  the  only  way  I  could 
save  a  little  money.  If  I  did  not  keep  an  account, 
which  I  tried  for  a  short  time,  I  often  spent  my 
money  for  candy  and  at  the  end  of  the  week  came 
out  very  much  in  arrears.  Ever  since  keeping  that 
paper  route  account  I  have  had  a  great  dislike  for 
accounts  and  nothing  could  induce  me  to  keep  one 
now,  although  I  will  admit  they  are  very  beneficial." 
The  Essentials. — The  essential  things  in  an  ac- 
count are  (1)  date  of  receiving  or  expending 
money,  (2)  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  received  or 
spent  and  (3)  the  amount.  The  receipts  should  be 
kept  on  a  separate  page  from  the  expenditures.  In 
the  simplest  form  of  account  keeping,  this,  with 
occasional  balancing,  is  all  that  is  necessary.  It  is 
sometimes  well  to  balance  every  week  so  that  omis- 
sions may  be  discovered  before  they  are  forgotten. 
At  each  balancing  the  amount  of  cash  on  hand 
should  be  set  down  and  money  owing  to  or  from 
the  child  may  be  indicated  if  it  is  thought  best.  The 
next  week,  when  balancing,  the  cash  on  hand  the 
previous  week  and  the  receipts  should  be  compared 
with  the  expenditures  and  the  present  cash  on  hand. 
If  these  two  sums  are  not  equal  something  has  been 
omitted.  Of  course,  if  the  child  receives  money  in 
payment  of  a  loan,  that  should  be  recorded  with 
the  receipts  and  the  same  is  true  if  he  borrows 


110  THE    USE   OF    MONEY 

money,  while  any  loans  that  he  may  make  should 
be  placed  with  expenditures. 

The  following  will  illustrate  the  accounts  kept 
by  a  boy  of  fourteen  : 

RECEIVED 

April  13— Cash  on  hand $0.50 

Due— From  E.  A.  K 1.80 

April  15 — Fishing  rod,  sold 60 

April  16— Car  tickets,  sold 10 

April  17 — Cash  from  E.  A.  K 50 

April  19 — Share  of  eggs 10 

April  2(>-Allowance   2.00 

$5.60 
SPENT 

April  14— Car  tickets $0.50 

April  \4 — Lunch    03 

April  IS— Ball    10 

April  IS — Lunch    14 

April  16 — Fishing  tackle 45 

April  16 — Lunch    03 

April  17 — Lunch    05 

April  17— Candy   OS 

April  18— Lunch   04 

$1.39 

April  20 — Cash  on  hand 51 

April  20— Due  from  E.  A.  K 3.30 

$5.20 

In  this  case  the  boy  received  a  weekly  allowance 
from  E.  A.  K.,  but  usually  kept  some  of  it  as  credit, 
instead  of  having  it  all  in  money.    In  balancing  up 


KEEPING   ACCOUNTS  111 

it  was  necessary  each  time  to  figure  how  much  was 
due,  then  see  if  the  cash  on  hand  would  make  the 
balance;  if  not,  and  an  effort  to  recollect  any  omis- 
sion or  to  discover  any  mistake  failed,  the  boy  put 
down  the  amount  lacking  under  the  head  of  "lost." 

After  a  child  has  had  some  instruction  in  book- 
keeping he  may  keep  a  more  elaborate  account,  but 
a  simple  one  will  do  for  a  beginning.  At  the  close 
of  the  year  or  oftener  the  account  should  be  gone 
over  and  the  same  or  similar  items  grouped,  to  dis- 
cover how  much  is  spent  during  a  quarter  or  during 
a  year  for  various  purposes,  necessary  and  other- 
wise. The  child  will  often  be  surprised  to  find  how 
much  small  items  of  luxury  such  as  ice-cream  and 
candy  amount  to  in  a  few  months.  This  will  tend 
to  make  him  a  little  more  careful  of  the  pennies 
and  nickels.  In  talking  the  matter  over  with  him 
the  question  kept  most  prominent  should  be  that  of 
using  the  money  so  as  to  get  the  most  out  of  it, 
whether  it  be  by  saving  for  the  future  or  by  buying 
more  of  some  things  and  less  of  others. 

If  the  child  has  several  sources  for  the  receipt  of 
money  the  other  side  of  the  account  should  be  ana- 
lyzed to  find  out  how  much  he  has  earned  by  work 
and  how  much  he  has  gaincrl  from  other  sources 
besides  his  fixed  allowance. 

It  is  not,  of  course,  necessary  that  the  keeping  of 
accounts  should  be  confined  to  those  who  have  an 


112  THE    USE    OF    MONEY 

allowance;  the  experience  will  be  helpful  regardless 
of  the  way  in  which  the  child  receives  his  money. 

When  and  How  to  Begin  Personal  Accounts. 
— The  age  at  which  a  child  may  begin  keeping  ac- 
counts may  vary  greatly  according  to  the  progress 
of  the  child  and  the  amount  of  attention  the  parent 
gives  to  the  matter.  A  child  of  three  or  four  who 
is  given  a  certain  number  of  pennies  each  week  ob- 
serves how  his  store  disappears.  As  soon  as  he  can 
count  he  keeps  a  more  definite  mental  record.  If 
a  mother  desires  to  do  so  she  may  begin  keeping 
an  account  for  her  child  when  he  is  just  beginning 
to  learn  to  write  and  do  numbers.  Then  as  soon 
as  he  can  make  figures  and  write  a  little  she  may 
let  him  keep  his  account,  showing  him  how  and 
helping  to  spell  the  hard  words.  In  most  cases, 
how^ever,  children  are  not  asked  to  keep  accounts 
until  they  are  ten  or  twelve  years  old.  It  should 
not  be  delayed  much  longer  than  this. 

A  failure  is  disagreeable,  especially  if  it  occurs 
frequently.  This  is  the  chief  reason  why  older  peo- 
ple so  often  dislike  keeping  accounts  and  why  chil- 
dren often  hate  them.  If  accounts  do  not  balance, 
as  is  so  often  the  case,  the  sense  of  failure  is  borne 
in  on  one  and  keeping  accounts  is  held  responsible 
for  the  unpleasant  feeling.  There  is  some  justifi- 
cation, therefore,  in  encouraging  children  to  keep 
records  of  money  that  they  get  and  that  they  spend 


KEEPING    ACCOUNTS  113 

without  asking  them  to  balance  the  account.  After 
they  have  become  used  to  keeping  accounts  and 
have  been  taught  how  business  men  keep  them,  they 
may  take  pride  in  using  the  same  method  and  in 
having  the  accounts  balance. 

Other  Accounts. — With  the  keeping  of  per- 
sonal accounts  there  may  well  be  preliminary  and 
supplementary  practise  in  making  out  statements  of 
shopping  errands.  These  should  include  a  state- 
ment of  money  received  and  the  items  of  expendi- 
ture, and  the  cash  returned  should  balance  with  it. 
Considerable  financial  training  may  be  obtained  by 
girls  in  connection  with  household  affairs.  For  ex- 
ample, a  little  girl  of  eleven,  who  had  just  baked 
her  first  batch  of  bread,  figured  out  its  cost  in  com- 
parison with  baker's  bread  in  the  following  way : 

BREAD 

2  teaspoons  salt  and  1  teaspoon  cottolenc,  estimated $0.01 

Yi  cup  molasses  at  60c  per  gallon 02 

M  cup  sugar  at  5c  per  pound 01 

Yi  sievef ul  graham  flour  at  3c  per  pound 02 

3  cups  milk  at  6c  per  quart 04 

3  sievefuls  of  flour  at  3c  per  pound 18 

1  yeast  cake  at  2c  per  cake 02 

$0.30 

Tliis  recipe  made  six  pounds  of  bread  and  one  and  one- 
half  dozen  biscuits,  which  would  cost  seventy-five  cents  at  a 
bakery.  This  shows  that  forty-five  cents  arc  saved  by  making 
bread  at  home,  not  counting  the  work  and  cost  of  baking. 


114  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

Some  children  take  naturally  to  keeping  accounts, 
as  the  following  reports  illustrate,  while  others  al- 
ways find  them  a  bore,  but  there  is  almost  universal 
testimony  that  the  experience  is  a  valuable  one. 

"At  first  I  used  to  keep  account  of  the  cents  I 
spent  in  little  books  made  by  myself  out  of  plain 
white  paper.  Then  one  summer  when  I  was  about 
twelve  I  used  to  go  into  my  cousin's  house  next 
door  and  dust  or  wash  dishes  for  her  several  times 
a  week,  and  she  gave  me  my  pay  at  the  week-end. 
A  record  of  this  and  of  what  I  spent  it  for  I  always 
kept  in  the  back  of  some  old  diary  where  pages  are 
lined  for  account  keeping." 

"When  about  ten  years  old  I  used  to  amuse  my- 
self by  making  out  an  imaginary  order.  For  in- 
stance, I  would  pretend  that  I  had  one  hundred  dol- 
lars to  spend.  Out  of  a  catalogue  I  would  choose 
the  dresses,  hats,  etc.,  that  I  liked  best  and  carefully 
fill  the  order  blank.  I  was  very  careful  that  the 
amount  was  no  more  or  less  than  one  hundred  dol- 
lars." 

"When  about  thirteen  and  fourteen  I  had  an  al- 
lowance, although  very  small.  I  kept  account  of 
all  I  spent  and  what  I  received,  although  it  was 
sometimes  difficult  to  make  my  money  balance  with 
the  books.  Too  often  I  would  forget  to  put  down 
some  expense  and  then  wonder  where  the  amount 


KEEPING   ACCOUNTS  115 

had  gone.  I  thought  by  keeping  an  account  I  would 
save  more  money,  but  I  didn't  do  as  I  expected.  It 
was  while  keeping  accounts  that  I  reahzed  what 
small  things  take  the  money  out  of  our  pocket- 
books." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FINANCIAL   COMMUNISM   IN   THE   HOME 

Practicability  Dependent  on  the  Spirit  of  the 
Home. — In  many  homes  there  is  a  common 
pocketbook  into  which  all  earnings  go  and  from 
which  is  purchased  whatever  is  needed,  as  deter- 
mined by  one  or  more  adults  of  the  family  or  by 
family  council.  The  spirit  in  which  this  method 
of  financiering  is  carried  on  may  make  it  one  of  the 
worst  or  one  of  the  best  methods  possible. 

Dangers. — This  plan,  even  when  the  family 
consists  of  only  husband  and  wife,  often  fails  in 
practise.  To  succeed  both  must  be  on  an  absolute 
equality  or  all  differences  must  be  fully  concealed 
by  love.  Unless  both  feel  that  everything  belongs 
to  one  as  much  as  to  the  other  and  that  their  needs 
are  equal,  or  else  that  all  belongs  to  both,  and  how- 
ever spent  is  being  used  for  both,  the  plan  will  not 
be  satisfactory.  In  the  first  the  tacit  understand- 
ing is  likely  to  be  transferred  into  definite  under- 
standing and  comparison,  or  one  is  likely  to  take 
more  than  the  proper  share,  either  with  or  without 

116 


FINANCIAL   COMMUNISM  117 

the  complete  approval  of  the  other.  If  one  denies 
himself  and  the  other  spends  freely  the  equality  is 
destroyed,  and  the  more  careful  one,  if  he  or  she 
desires  to  spend  a  little  extra,  scarcely  feels  it  right 
to  do  so.  If  both  spend  freely  the  supply  may  be- 
come short,  and  if  both  save  they  may  become  mi- 
serly. 

Even  in  the  second  case,  where  love  seems  to  con- 
ceal all  differences  and  each  is  as  free  as  the  other 
to  use  the  money  and  each  is  equally  pleased,  no 
matter  for  which  the  money  is  spent,  a  situation 
similar  to  that  described  above  may  gradually  arise, 
unnoticed  by  either.  Even  if  it  does  not  there  is 
often  the  desire  to  devote  something  that  is  entirely 
one's  own  to  the  pleasure  of  the  other  or  to  some 
special  object.  Where  there  is  nothing  peculiarly 
one's  own  this  is  impossible. 

In  many  homes  where  there  is,  in  general,  finan- 
cial unity,  it  is  still  found  more  pleasant  for  at  least 
some  small  portion  of  the  income  to  belong  to  hus- 
band and  wife  personally.  They  can  then  more 
truly  give  each  other  presents  or  spend  money  to 
gratify  their  individual  desires.  In  one  home  all 
bills  were  paid  from  the  common  fund,  then  the 
remainder  was  divided  equally  between  husband  and 
wife  for  personal  use  as  each  saw  fit.  This  plan 
seemed  to  work  very  satisfactorily. 

It  may  be,  as  some  would  say,  that  if  there  were 


118  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

perfect  unity  and  love,  so  that  the  interests  of  one 
were  fully  and  completely  those  of  the  other,  there 
would  be  no  desire  for  money  for  purely  personal 
use.  If  this  were  admitted  theoretically,  still,  as 
people  are  constituted  and  mated,  there  would  not 
be  one  case  in  a  thousand  where  this  would  be  true 
of  a  husband  and  wife  and  would  remain  true  all 
their  lives.  Again,  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
even  theoretically  this  would  be  desirable.  Would 
it  not  be  too  great  a  sinking  of  individuality  to  have 
such  a  complete  fusion  of  interest?  Will  not  both 
be  more  useful,  happier  and  more  interesting  to 
themselves  and  others  if  each,  while  caring  as  much 
for  the  welfare  of  the  other  as  for  his  own,  or  even 
more,  still  desires  in  many  ways  to  live  his  own  life 
and  have  the  other  do  so?  Financially  this  will 
mean  that  each  shall  wish  the  other  to  have  funds 
for  common  use  and  also  a  certain  more  or  less 
definitely  fixed  amount  for  personal  use. 

Partial  Communism  Better. — This  probably  is 
as  close  an  approximation  to  an  ideal  financial  ar- 
rangement as  is  practicable.  In  a  home  where  there 
are  children  the  same  plan  may  be  followed,  the 
family  rather  than  the  individual  being  the  chief 
unit.  In  family  council  plans  may  be  made  for  the 
good  of  all  its  members.  It  may  also  be  agreed  that 
each  one  shall  have  certain  amounts  for  giving  pres- 
ents or  for  other  personal  uses.    The  parents  will 


FINANCIAL    COMMUNISM  119 

naturally  have  the  greater  influence  in  these  coun- 
cils but  they  may  be  conducted  in  such  a  way  that 
all  shall  feel  that  the  interests  of  the  family  as  a 
whole  are  of  primary  importance.  Children  thus 
treated  are  more  likely  to  favor  the  use  of  money 
for  some  common  end,  or  for  some  other  member 
of  the  family,  than  to  clamor  for  it  for  their  own 
use,  as  they  often  do  where  the  idea  of  individual 
use  of  money  has  been  developed  into  selfishness. 

Advantages  of  Common  Money  Interests. — 
That  the  family  is  the  chief  unit  financially,  to 
which  all  the  income  belongs  and  for  which  it  should 
be  expended,  is  an  important  truth  to  be  taught.  It 
produces  a  delightful  social  and  moral  atmosphere 
in  the  home  and  is  preparatory  to  the  training  of 
public-spirited  citizens  who  consider  the  interests 
of  town,  state  or  nation  as  well  as  their  own  private 
welfare. 

This  ideal  may  be  developed,  however,  without 
omitting  to  teach  the  equally  important  truths  of 
individual  financial  rights  and  responsibilities.  In 
the  dealing  of  the  family  with  outsiders  some  of 
these  principles  may  be  learned.  If  the  children 
have  chances  to  earn  money  outside  of  the  home 
this  financial  training  may  easily  be  given.  If  their 
money  for  personal  use  comes  from  the  family 
fund,  an  allowance  is  less  opposed  to  the  comtnunis- 
tic  idea  than  payment  for  work  done  in  the  home. 


120  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

Money   Affairs   Related   to   Other  Affairs. — 

This  suggests  a  point  that  one  must  continually  have 
in  mind  in  planning  the  financial  training  of  chil- 
dren. The  money  affairs  of  a  family  are  not  sep- 
arate from  their  other  interests  but  intimately  con- 
nected with  them.  The  spirit  of  the  home  will  make 
a  great  deal  of  difference  as  to  the  success  of  any 
financial  plan  that  is  adopted.  In  a  home  where 
individualism  prevails,  especially  among  the  chil- 
dren, each  seeking  his  own  interests  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  those  of  the  others  and  of  the  family  as  a 
whole,  the  same  financial  plan  will  not  work  as  in 
a  home  where  each  has  the  interests  of  the  family 
and  each  member  at  heart.  In  the  one,  each  is  try- 
ing to  get  as  much  as  he  can  for  himself  and,  in 
the  other,  to  contribute  as  much  as  possible  to  the 
family  life  and  happiness.  A  looseness  in  financial 
matters  that  would  prevent  the  success  of  a  finan- 
cial plan  in  a  home  of  the  first  type  would  be  quite 
permissible  in  a  home  of  the  second  type.  There 
may  be  great  looseness  of  financial  relation  between 
members  of  the  family  in  a  home  of  the  latter  type, 
without  injury,  providing  none  of  the  family  be- 
come selfish  and  all  are  very  careful  to  be  strictly 
honest  and  just  in  dealing  with  those  outside. 

The  above  statement  should  not  be  taken  as  an 
excuse  for  having  no  plan  of  financial  training  in 
the  home  or  for  not  carrying  out  such  a  plan  when 


FINANCIAL   COMMUNISM  121 

one  has  been  adopted.  The  financial  transactions 
of  the  home  are  a  part  of  its  life  and  exercise  an 
important  influence  upon  all  phases  of  social  life 
in  and  outside  of  the  family.  Directing  the  finan- 
cial affairs  of  children  properly  is  merely  one  way 
of  directing  their  whole  life  and  training  them  for 
successful  enjoyable  living.  Indeed,  all  social  and 
moral  problems  are  involved  in  financial  transac- 
tions and  their  real  nature  may  perhaps  be  best  un- 
derstood in  such  transactions.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  financial  training  of  children  is  one  of  the 
means  of  developing  a  proper  spirit  in  the  home. 
This  is  possible  only  when  children  use  money  both 
for  the  needs  and  pleasures  of  others  and  for  their 
own  personal  gratifications. 


PART  II 

TRAINING  OUTSIDE  THE  HOME 


CHAPTER  XV 


INSTITUTIONS  FOR  CHILDREN'S   SAVINGS 


Means  of  Saving  Provided  by  Various  Soci- 
eties,— Reasons  for  the  financial  training  of  chil- 
dren are  supplied  in  abundance  by  social  workers. 
Many  of  them  find  that  they  can  render  the  best 
service  to  the  people  of  the  community  in  which 
they  are  working  by  providing  them  with  a  conve- 
nient means  of  saving  and  by  teaching  them  how  to 
buy  wisely.  They  find  it  very  difficult  to  teach 
adults  thrift  and  get  them  to  overcome  habits  of 
self-indulgence  and  wasteful  use  of  money.  Yet 
it  is  found  in  most  social  settlements  that  work 
along  that  line  is  well  worth  while  and  closely  as- 
sociated with  improvement  in  other  lines.  Time 
and  efifort  are  still  better  expended  in  giving  chil- 
dren financial  training  because  the  results  are  so 
much  greater  than  in  the  case  of  adults  whose  habits 
are  hard  to  change. 

Not  only  have  social  settlements  done  a  good  deal 
to  provide  opportunity,  encouragement  and  instruc- 
tion in  saving  and  spending,  but  various  philan- 

125 


126  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

thropic  and  business  organizations  have  provided 
means  by  which  department-store  employees,  fac- 
tory workers  and  others  may  save  money  for  specific 
purposes,  such  as  a  coat,  a  dress,  winter  clothing, 
a  week's  vacation,  Christmas  presents  or  any  one 
of  a  hundred  things  that  may  be  desired  but  can 
be  obtained  by  the  poorly  paid  wage  earner  only 
by  going  in  debt  or  by  saving  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time. 

Until  recently  in  this  country  opportunity  and 
conveniences  for  this  form  of  saving  have  been  fur- 
nished by  neither  banks  nor  the  government.  It 
is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  pawnbrokers,  loan 
sharks  and  sellers  of  goods  on  the  instalment  plan 
have  flourished  at  the  expense  of  those  with  little 
money  and  slight  financial  training.  Recently,  how- 
ever, the  post-office  has  been  opened  to  receive  small 
savings  and  many  banks  are  offering  facilities  for 
the  temporary  deposit  of  small  sums. 

In  England  the  government  favors  the  small  de- 
positor to  such  an  extent  that  there  is  no  need  for 
schools  or  charitable  organizations  to  conduct  a 
stamp  or  other  savings  system.  A  child  may  buy 
a  single  penny  stamp  and  when  he  has  a  shilling's 
worth  of  them  he  can  become  a  depositor  in  the 
post-ofifice.  Teachers  there  need  only  to  encourage 
saving  while  the  government  furnishes  the  oppor- 
tunity. 


CHILDREN'S    SAVINGS  127 

Work  of  Schools  in  Promoting  Saving. — In 
this  country  there  is  need  in  most  places  for  the 
schools  to  furnish  both  facilities  for  saving  and 
instruction  regarding  financial  matters.  This  is  now 
being  done  in  perhaps  two  hundred  cities  and  towns, 
but  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  school  population  is 
reached.  In  1913  a  quarter  of  a  million  children 
had  deposited  five  million  dollars  through  the 
schools.  In  a  large  proportion  of  cases  where 
school  children  are  given  facilities  for  saving  some 
society  or  bank  is  cooperating  with  the  school  au- 
thorities or  with  the  teachers  in  caring  for  the  sav- 
ings. In  some  cases  the  teachers  do  much  of  the 
work  of  receiving  the  savings  and  keeping  the  ac- 
counts, while  in  others  an  agent  of  the  society  or 
the  bank  visits  the  schools  and  does  most  of  the 
work.  In  a  few  places  the  matter  is  attended  to, 
in  part  at  least,  by  pupils  in  the  commercial  depart- 
ment of  the  high  school. 

The  Two  Methods  Most  Used. — The  two 
principal  forms  of  money  saving  carried  on  by 
schools  are  the  stamp  saving  system  and  the  school 
banking  system,  r.oth  have  the  same  purpose  and 
are  often  arranged  so  that  local  banks  take  charge 
of  individual  deposits  as  soon  as  they  reach  a  cer- 
tain amount,  usually  one  dollar.  The  stamp  saving 
system  appeals  to  younger  children  because  they  can 
see  by  the  increased  surface  covered  by  stamps  how 


128  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

their  savings  are  growing.  To  older  children  buy- 
ing stamps  may  seem  babyish,  while  an  account 
book  and  the  possession  of  a  bank  book  similar  to 
that  of  adults  is  a  matter  of  pride.  The  latter  sys- 
tem also  gives  some  training  in  proper  methods  of 
keeping  accounts.  Disappointment  through  loss  is 
also  not  so  likely  as  in  the  stamp  saving  system. 

How  it  Works  in  One  Place. — The  following, 
quoted  from  a  circular  sent  out  by  Superintendent 
Cummings,  Lansing,  Michigan,  describes  a  good 
system  that  is  working  well : 

"The  system  of  School  Savings  Bank  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Lansing  public  schools  in  November, 
1908.  Its  aim  is  to  develop  thrift,  frugality  and 
self-denial,  and  also  to  give  the  pupils  some  famil- 
iarity with  the  actual  practises  of  banks  and  busi- 
ness. It  is  not  the  plan  of  this  system  particularly 
to  encourage  the  saving  of  large  sums  of  money, 
but  rather  to  develop  the  habit  of  saving  for  some 
definite  purpose.  Three  thousand,  ninety-eight  pu- 
pils are  at  present  availing  themselves  of  the  school 
savings  system  and  the  amount  on  deposit  is  well 
above  ten  thousand  dollars.  Is  not  this  conclusive 
evidence  of  the  good  that  is  being  done?  Certainly 
a  large  number  of  the  boys  and  girls  are  learning 
the  value  of  the  penny. 

"The  system  in  itself  is  simple.    Each  pupil  ex- 
pressing a  desire  to  start  a  savings  account  is  fur- 


CHILDREN'S    SAVINGS  129 

nished  by  the  teacher  with  a  small  manila  card, 
ruled  for  each  of  the  thirty-eight  weeks  of  the 
school  year.  Deposits  are  made  by  the  pupil  di- 
rectly with  the  teacher  upon  the  day  set  by  the 
school  as  'bank  day,'  and  the  pupil  is  at  once  credited 
upon  his  card  with  the  amount  of  such  deposit.  The 
money  thus  received  by  the  teacher  is  turned  over 
to  the  principal  of  the  building  and  deposited  by 
him  in  the  depository  bank.  When  the  deposits  of 
any  pupil  aggregate  one  dollar  the  principal  checks 
out  one  dollar  from  that  particular  school's  account 
at  the  bank,  and  the  bank  issues  a  slip  to  the  pupil, 
entitling  him  to  one  dollar's  credit  in  the  bank's 
saving  department.  This  slip  is  taken  by  the  pupil 
to  the  bank,  where  he  deposits  it  and  for  the  first 
deposit  receives  a  regular  bank  book.  For  each  sub- 
sequent deposit  he  receives  credit  for  one  dollar. 
The  above  plan,  subject  to  certain  rules  and  regula- 
tions, a  copy  of  which  appears  upon  the  pupil's  card, 
constitutes  the  system." 

Cautions  To  Be  Observed. — To  get  the  best 
results  from  a  saving  system  in  school  the  mere 
idea  of  saving  is  not  the  only  thing  to  emphasize; 
the  question  of  wise  spending  is  of  equal  or  even 
greater  importance.  The  so-called  habit  of  saving 
will  persist  with  few.  except  miserly  persons,  unless 
the  advantages  of  .such  saving  arc  impressed  on 
them  through  getting  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction 


130  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

from  the  money  that  has  required  time  and  sacri- 
fice to  save. 

Where  nothing  but  saving  is  emphasized  the  chief 
interest  often  consists  in  competing  with  other  chil- 
dren as  to  amount  of  savings.  This  puts  some  chil- 
dren at  a  disadvantage  and  has,  in  some  cases,  led 
to  stealing.  It  may  also  become  as  objectionable 
as  is  the  rivalry  between  adults  in  making  a  show 
of  wealth. 

Institutions  that  concern  themselves  only  with 
saving  are  frequently  popular  only  as  long  as  there 
is  novelty  and  some  competition.  This  is  the  rea- 
son why,  in  many  cities,  great  interest  is  shown  in 
a  savings  system  for  a  year  or  two,  then  it  dies  out 
and  not  infrequently  the  plan  is  abandoned. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  attention  is  given  in  any 
town  or  city  to  wise  spending  of  money  that  has 
been  saved  the  interest  is  likely  to  continue  and  the 
individual  children  will  steadily  develop  better 
ideals  and  habits  in  financial  affairs.  More  time 
may  well  be  spent  in  talking  to  children  about  good 
ways  of  spending  money  than  in  urging  them  to 
hoard  it.  Also  definite  things  for  which  a  child  is 
to  save  will  furnish  the  most  natural  motive  for 
keeping  his  money.  Children  may  often  be  inter- 
ested in  telling  or  writing  an  account  of  how  they 
got  the  most  for  the  money  they  had  saved. 


CHILDREN'S    SAVINGS  131 

What  is  Gained  by  the  Promotion  of  Saving. 
— The  chief  intellectual  lesson  derived  from  saving 
lies  in  discovering  how  much  a  little  laid  by  every 
day  or  week  will  amount  to  in  a  few  months.  The 
best  financial  and  moral  training  is  gained  by  giving 
up  little  indulgences  for  a  time,  then  spending  on 
some  larger  and  more  permanently  satisfying  thing, 
because  this  develops  the  tendency  to  inhibit  present 
desires  for  a  future  and  greater  good. 

A  large  number  of  answers  to  questions  regard- 
ing the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  savings 
systems  in  schools  contained  many  such  expressions 
as  the  following :  "Surprising  results  as  to  accounts 
booked" ;  "Has  proved  most  successful" ;  "Children 
spend  less  on  candy" ;  "It  has  taught  the  children 
the  value  of  money  and  encouraged  thrift";  "Habit 
of  saving  formed";  "Less  use  of  candy  and  cheap 
soda."  In  none  of  the  answers  sent  the  author  were 
there  any  disadvantages  mentioned,  while  in  many 
it  was  stated  that  there  was  none. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true,  however,  that  such  sys- 
tems are  not  having  as  universally  permanent  an 
influence  on  children  as  some  of  their  enthusiastic 
advocates  think  they  have.  Of  forty-one  normal 
students  who  had,  when  in  the  grades,  an  opi)()r- 
tunity  to  deposit  in  a  school  saving  institution, 
thirty-two  had  done  so  but  only  nineteen  had  con- 


132  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

tinued  to  deposit  for  more  than  one  year.  Seventeen 
were  sure  that  the  experience  was  a  valuable  one  to 
them.  Rivalry  was  named  by  the  majority  as  the 
chief  incentive  to  saving. 

In  most  cities  little  was  reported  as  having  been 
done  by  the  schools  to  suggest  ways  of  spending 
the  money  that  was  being  saved.  This  should  be  a 
prominent  feature  in  all  promotion  of  saving. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SCHOOL  ARITHMETIC  AND  FINANCIAL  TRAINING 

Aims  and  Deficiencies  in  Arithmetical  Train- 
ing.— Two  aims  have  been  varyingly  prominent 
in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic, — the  scientific  or  dis- 
ciphnary,  and  the  practical.  By  the  common  people 
arithmetic  has  been  regarded  with  favor  in  this 
country,  because  they  believe  it  is  of  practical  value, 
especially  to  boys. 

Until  recently,  however,  most  writers  of  text- 
books and  many  teachers  have  been  dominated  by 
the  scholastic  idea  of  arithmetic  as  an  exact  science 
and  by  the  pedagogic  theory  that  thorough  training 
in  it  is  the  l^est  form  of  mental  discipline.  Yet  they 
were  influenced  by  the  demand  that  arithmetic 
should  be  of  practical  value,  to  the  extent  that  all 
sorts  of  subjects  and  exercises  connected  with  busi- 
ness were  introduced  into  the  text-books  and  made 
the  basis  of  long  and  careful  drill  by  teachers.  Long 

133 


134  JHE   USE   OF    MONEY 

hours  were  spent  in  working  examples  in  partial 
payments,  banking,  stocks,  bonds,  insurance,  com- 
mission and  taxation,  by  pupils  who  had  never  seen 
a  note,  cashed  a  check  or  heard  of  bonds  or  commis- 
sions outside  of  school.  Still  business  men  continued 
to  complain  that  clerks  fresh  from  these  schools 
were  not  good  in  practical  calculations. 

Text-book  makers  and  teachers  improved  mat- 
ters somewhat  by  explaining  terms  more  clearly  and 
illustrating  them  by  the  introduction  of  the  forms 
of  business  into  school.  The  examples  were  made 
more  practical  and  less  illustrative  of  technicalities. 
In  some  cases  an  imaginary  banking  or  other  busi- 
ness was  carried  on  in  school.  In  spite  of  these  ef- 
forts, complaints  are  common  that  most  graduates 
of  both  grade  and  high  schools  are  not  practically 
trained. 

Academic  Idea  Prominent. — Two  reasons  for 
this  unfortunate  condition  may  be  mentioned.  The 
first  is  that  the  teaching,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
text-book  makers  and  of  educators,  continued  to  be 
academic.  In  most  cases  teachers  had  great  respect 
for  arithmetic  as  an  exact  science  and  for  the  tra- 
ditional classifications  and  processes.  This  tendency 
was  increased  by  the  standards  set  in  grading  ex- 
amination papers.  Examples  were  selected  and  ar- 
ranged with  a  view  to  showing  clearly  the  different 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  135 

types  of  examples  and  the  exact  rule  that  must  be 
followed  for  each  type.  The  text-book  maker  rea- 
soned that  this  was  necessary  to  make  his  books  re- 
spectably scientific  and  the  teacher  felt  that  only  by 
carrying  out  this  idea  could  she  show  evidence  of 
thoroughness  when  her  pupils  were  subjected  to 
examinations.  The  children  felt  no  particular  in- 
terest in  the  subject-matter  of  the  problems  and  did 
not  care  who  experienced  profit  or  loss.  Each  child 
knew  that  his  business  as  a  pupil  was  to  classify  the 
problems  correctly  and  apply  the  right  rule  so  as  to 
get  the  required  answer.  He  also  tried  to  write  out 
the  example  and  explain  it  according  to  the  forms 
prescribed  by  the  teacher,  if  she  made  much  of  that 
feature  of  the  work,  as  was  often  the  case. 

However  hard  educators  tried  they  were  often  un- 
able to  change  this  academic  attitude  on  the  part  of 
all  concerned.  This  is  not  strange,  for  a  mathemati- 
cian naturally  regards  every  problem  as  embodying 
a  general  principle  which  is  the  important  thing.  It 
is  impossible  for  him  to  attach  as  much  importance 
to  the  rate  of  interest,  or  the  nature  of  the  debt  upon 
which  it  is  computed,  as  to  the  mathematical  prin- 
ciple involved  or  to  the  logical  statement  of  reasons. 
This  point  of  view  may  be  defended  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  the  principles  that  are  important  rather 
than  the  particular  problems  by  means  of  which 


136  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

they  are  being  studied.  Yet  it  is  this  attitude  that 
makes  the  arithmetic  teaching  academic  rather  than 
practical. 

The  Business  Attitude. — The  man  of  business 
is  not  concerned  with  mathematical  principles  and 
logical  statements,  but  with  the  correct  answer  to 
the  particular  problem  which  means  dollars  and 
cents  to  be  received  or  paid  out.  The  exact  nature 
of  the  transaction  and  the  particular  amounts  in- 
volved are  the  things  he  notes  most  carefully,  while 
the  mathematical  principles  applied,  if  thought  of 
at  all,  are  only  means  to  the  important  end,  a  cor- 
rect answer. 

The  natural  attitude  of  the  child  is  analogous  to 
that  of  the  business  man.  He  is  inclined  to  think, 
much  to  the  disgust  of  a  scholarly  teacher,  that  the 
correct  answer,  no  matter  how  obtained,  is  the  im- 
portant thing. 

As  long  as  the  academic  standpoint  is  prominent 
in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic,  pupils  will  get  good 
marks  in  school  and  blunder  in  practical  affairs. 
Some  means  must  be  found  of  harmonizing  the 
scholarly  point  of  view  with  the  natural  attitude  of 
the  child  and  the  business  man. 

The  teacher  must  allow  to  the  child  his  belief 
in  the  importance  of  results,  but  she  must  convince 
him  by  experience  that  the  best  way  to  get  the 
correct  result  is  by  adhering  to  certain  mathematical 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  137 

principles  and  perhaps  also  by  arranging  the  work 
in  a  certain  way.  If  she  can  not  convince  him  of 
the  advantages  of  such  rules  and  arrangements  then 
it  is  likely  that  there  is  something  wrong,  either  with 
the  rules  or  her  teaching. 

Knowledge  of  Business  Facts  Lacking. — The 
second  reason  why  the  effort  usually  fails  to  make 
arithmetic  practical  is  closely  related  to  the  first.  It 
is  that  the  child  has  been  taught  processes  involved 
in  business  transactions  of  which  he  has  little  or  no 
real  knowledge  or  experience,  or  in  which  he  is  not 
interested.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  one  should 
not  be  eager  to  learn  exactly  how  to  perform  an  op- 
eration that  he  has  never  attempted  to  perform, 
that  he  has  no  expectation  of  performing  soon,  and 
that  he  has  no  motive  for  performing  now,  save 
that  of  meeting  school  requirements. 

What  difference  does  it  make  to  him  how  much 
Mr.  A  owes  Mr.  B  for  selling  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred forty-six  dollars  and  fifty  cents'  worth  of  goods 
at  a  commission  of  three  per  cent.  ?  It  gives  a  little 
exercise  to  his  imagination  to  suppose  that  he  is 
the  merchant  who  has  consigned  the  goods  to  his 
chum  John,  but  he  knows  that  it  is  only  a  play  af- 
fair and  not  a  real  transaction  in  real  money.  As 
a  play  it  may  be  quite  inferior  to  imaginary  lion 
hunting,  for  you  can  play  you  have  killed  the  lion 
without  taking  so  much  pains  in  taking  aim  as  is 


138  JHE   USE   OF    MONEY 

necessary  in  calculating  the  amount  of  the  com- 
mission. 

Acting  out  business  transactions,  however,  does 
give  a  pupil  a  much  better  idea  of  the  real  nature 
of  the  problems  he  is  solving.  But  that  does  not 
give  any  but  younger  children  the  same  motive  for 
solving  the  particular  problem,  and  for  learning 
the  general  principles  involved  in  solving  it,  as  is 
given  by  real  transactions  in  which  the  pupil  him- 
self or  persons  that  he  knows  are  actually  con- 
cerned. 

Attempts  at  Improvement. — In  such  an  exam- 
ple as  follows,  from  a  popular  arithmetic,  there  is 
an  attempt  to  give  reality  to  the  problems. 

Mr.  Evans'  tax  is  three  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty  dollars.  The  rate  of  taxation  is  two  and 
one-half  per  cent.  What  is  the  assessed  value  of  his 
property? 

Since,  however,  this  is  one  of  a  list  of  problems 
of  applications  of  percentage,  no  other  of  which  has 
anything  to  do  with  Mr.  Evans,  there  is  no  prob- 
ability that  the  pupils  will  feel  any  desire  to  know 
what  the  valuation  of  Mr.  Evans'  property  really  is. 

In  another,  a  diagram  of  a  beet  field  is  given  and 
six  problems  regarding  the  growing  of  beets  fol- 
low. Three  of  these  are  independent  problems  and 
three  are  related  in  such  a  way  that  the  answer  to 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  139 

one  gives  data  used  in  the  next  problem.  This  gives 
some  financial  training,  since  the  problems  of  beet 
growing  are  dwelt  on  long  enough  to  make  some  im- 
pression as  to  costs  and  profits,  but  unless  the  child 
is  interested  in  beet  growing  or  in  comparing  its 
profits  with  those  of  other  crops  the  impression  is 
slight.  The  financial  training  involved  is  therefore 
not  much  greater  than  in  purely  formal  arithmetic. 

In  another  much  used  arithmetic  nearly  all  the 
problems  are  taken  from  the  industries  and  fre- 
quently they  are  arranged  in  related  series.  In  one 
case  there  are  nine  problems  regarding  the  roof  of 
a  barn,  but  the  problems  are  all  problems  of  cost  ac- 
cording to  material  used,  and  are  not  made  to  bear 
on  any  practical  question  to  be  decided.  In  real  life 
the  chief  problem  would  be,  "What  shall  I  use  to 
cover  my  barn?"  and  the  various  subordinate  prob- 
lems would  be  to  determine  the  amount  needed  and 
cost  of  various  materials,  such  as  shingles,  rubber 
roofing,  etc.,  in  order  that  the  main  problem  might 
be  decided  intelligently. 

If  text  and  teacher  not  only  exercised  care  in 
having  prices  correctly  given  in  the  examples,  but 
arranged  the  material  so  that  the  examples  would  be 
means  to  deciding  what  course  of  action  to  follow, 
and  if  the  teacher  so  excited  the  imagination  of  the 
children  that  they  really  cared  to  find  out  what  it 


140  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

would  be  best  to  do,  the  financial  training  would  be 
much  better. 

Of  more  than  a  hundred  normal  students  who 
were  asked  regarding  the  real  financial  training  they 
received  from  the  study  of  arithmetic,  only  a  few 
had  studied  under  a  teacher  who  gave  attention  to 
the  prices  mentioned  in  concrete  problems  and  cor- 
rected them  if  they  were  not  reasonable  in  that  lo- 
cality. Few  of  the  students  had  noticed  the  prices 
or  learned  anything  about  real  financial  transac- 
tions in  their  study  of  arithmetic.  Nearly  all,  how- 
ever, thought  that  the  drill  in  fundamental  opera- 
tions had  been  of  value  when  they  came  to  work 
actual  business  problems. 

Interest  in  Solutions  Needed. — In  order  to  be 
genuinely  practical  the  child  must  do  more  than 
solve  problems  that  are  like  those  he  may  meet  at 
some  time  in  the  future.  He  must  solve  problems 
that  he  really  wants  to  have  solved  now.  The  more 
the  arithmetical  work  is  a  means  to  finding  solu- 
tions that  he  really  wishes  to  obtain  the  more  prac- 
tical it  will  be.  The  idea,  then,  is  to  take  advantage 
of  all  desires  for  results  that  can  be  reached  by 
arithmetical  means  and  to  arouse  desires  that  arith- 
metical knowledge  will  satisfy. 

Since  most  arithmetical  calculations  in  practical 
life  are  connected  with  financial  transactions,  there 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  141 

is  a  close  relation  between  the  arithmetical  training 
of  children  and  their  financial  training.  It  is  very 
much  easier  to  get  a  child  genuinely  interested  in 
arithmetical  calculations  if  he  has  had  varied  finan- 
cial experiences  and  thoroughly  appreciates  what  so 
many  cents  or  dollars  one  way  or  the  other  really 
mean  in  the  way  of  effort  or  satisfaction  of  desire. 
Such  a  child  not  only  has  already  heard  a  good  deal 
about  calculation,  but  he  has  an  interest  in  the  na- 
ture and  results  of  financial  transactions  that  serves 
as  a  good  basis  for  intelligent  and  vigorous  study  of 
arithmetical  processes  and  principles. 

Typical  Errors  in  Applications. — Problems  di- 
rectly concerned  with  what  children  have  been  do- 
ing are  much  better  than  imaginary  problems,  espe- 
cially for  older  children,  yet  the  teacher  who  gives 
such  problems  may  be  greatly  disappointed  by  what 
the  children  hand  in  as  solutions. 

In  an  eighth  grade  the  class  made  a  soft  custard 
for  the  lunch-room  and  without  specific  directions 
from  the  teacher  attempted  to  figure  out  the  total 
cost — the  recipe,  equivalent  measures  and  prices  be- 
ing given  them.    About  half  of  the  class  succeeded. 

The  best  solution  follows.  Nearly  all  put  down 
the  right  answer,  l)ut  all  sorts  of  mistakes  were 
made  and  apparently  the  correct  answer  was,  in 
many  cases,  copied  from  others. 


142 


THE   USE   OF    MONEY 


November  24,  1913 

Answer 

Soft  Custard 

Used  10  times  recipe.    Cost? 

Eggs  .36  doz. 

Milk  .08  qt. 

Sugar  .06  lb. 

Vanilla  for  all,  .02 

20  eggs  @  .36  a  doz. — 134doz. 

.36 

IV3 

.24 

.36 

.60  for  eggs 

20  cups  milk=5  qts.  @  .08  a  qt. 

.08 

.05 

.40  for  milk 

2H  cups  sugar=:l^  lb.  @  .06  a  lb. 

.06 

.015 

.075=.08 

.40 

.60 

.08 

.02 

$1.10  Total  Cost 

$1.10  Cost. 

In  the  same  class,  cocoa  was  made  according  to  the 
recipe:  one  and  one-half  tablespoons  of  cocoa,  two 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  143 

tablespoons  of  sugar,  two  cups  of  boiling  water, 
two  cups  of  milk,  all  multiplied  by  thirty-four  for 
the  lunch-room.  No  one  succeeded  in  solving  all 
parts  of  the  problem  and  labeling  them  correctly. 
The  answers  ranged  from  sixty-three  cents  to  twelve 
dollars  and  ninety-five  cents,  no  two  getting  the  same 
results  for  items.  Some  used  the  formula,  sixteen 
tablespoons  equal  one  pound,  but  no  one  succeeded 
in  correctly  figuring  the  cost  of  the  sugar.  The  best 
paper  follows : 

Cocoa  .36  lb.    Cost  $1.72 
Milk  .08  qt. 
Sugar  .05  lb. 
Made  34  times  recipe.    Cost? 

.68  milk 

68  tablespoons  sugar 

51  tablespoons  cocoa 

4/68_  17  16/J6_ 

'  17  qts.  milk            .08  .02^ 
.13 


$1.36  milk  

16/68_  .10  $0-26  cocoa 

434  cups  sugar    .26  ^^jj 

$1.72  12>4  oz.  cocoa 

With  a  recipe  for  tapioca  cream,  one- fourth  cup 
of  tapioca,  two  cups  of  milk,  two  eggs,  one-third 
cup  of  sugar,  multiplied  by  twenty-four,  the  results 
were  similar,  no  two  agreeing  in  all  the  items.  The 
mistakes  indicate  that  the  concrete   facts  arc  not 


144  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

closely  associated  with  the  symbols  used  in  calculat- 
ing. For  example,  in  following  the  recipe  one- 
fourth  cup  of  tapioca  multiplied  by  twenty-four  is 
seen  to  mean  six  cups  for  the  larger  recipe.  This  is 
all  that  is  necessary  for  cooking  purposes.  In  cal- 
culating cost,  eight  cents  (a  pound)  is  the  significant 
thing  and  the  children  at  once  combined  this  with 
the  significant  thing  in  cooking,  i.  e.,  the  number  of 
cups,  and  multiplied  one  by  the  other  to  get  the  cost. 
The  previous  cooking  experience  of  the  children 
and  their  experience  in  book  work  in  arithmetic  had 
prepared  the  pupils  to  select  these  two  significant 
facts,  but  actual  experience  in  calculating  while 
cooking  had  not  been  sufficient  to  make  them  think 
of  translating  the  unit  cup,  significant  for  cooking 
purposes,  into  the  unit  pound,  significant  for  cal- 
culating purposes. 

Most  of  the  mistakes  made  are  of  this  character, 
the  children  evidently  not  thinking  with  sufficient 
clearness  of  the  concrete  equivalents  of  the  symbol 
language  used  in  calculating.  There  were  few  er- 
rors in  arithmetical  processes  except  in  decimal 
points.  These  also  could  have  been  avoided  if  the 
children  had  noticed  whether  or  not  the  answers 
they  obtained  were  reasonable.  It  is  evident  there- 
fore that  neither  teacher  has  failed  to  teach  the 
process  that  each  is  expected  to  teach,  but  it  is 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  145 

equally  evident  that  as  long  as  they  confine  them- 
selves to  their  special  work  a  third  teacher  is  needed 
to  connect  the  two  processes  of  calculating  and  cook- 
ing in  such  a  way  as  to  serve  the  practical  purposes 
of  life.  The  other  possibilities  are,  either  to  have 
one  teacher  teach  both  processes  at  the  same  time, 
or  have  two  teachers,  both  of  whom  teach  both  proc- 
esses together,  one  emphasizing  one  phase  and  the 
other  the  other. 

In  the  school  where  the  work  described  above 
was  done  the  problems  occurring  in  the  practical 
arts  work  were  often  solved  in  the  arithmetic  class, 
otherwise  the  complete  failures  would  probably  have 
been  more  numerous. 

In  a  sewing  class  the  same  children  calculated  the 
cost  of  garments  they  had  made.  The  following 
are  samples  of  their  work.  Some  of  the  class,  even 
after  an  hour's  effort,  needed  help  in  solving  these 
simple  problems. 


$0.10 

yds, 

.  Lonsdale 

cambric 

3/20 
20 

for 

buttons 

26^3 
3 

$0.30 


146  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

PETTICOAT 

IVz  yds.  of  Lonsdale  @  $0.10  $0.24 

7/3x10/1=70/3=23^  or  $0.24  .34 

lYi  Hamburg  12^c  — 

8/3x25/2=200/6=.33j^  or  $0.34  ^"^^ 


2V^  Lonercloth   

CHEMISE 
$0.16 

2^ 

3/16 
32 

3  Hamburer 

$0.12^ 

$0.37>^  2/6 

3 

2/3 

1/^ 
36 

$0.37^ 

$0.74^  or  $0.75 

Practise  in  Formulating  Problems  Needed. — 
These  children  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  on  such 
problems,  which  were  far  easier  than  some  they  had 
often  solved  in  their  regular  arithmetic  work.  They 
found  them  hard,  however,  because  they  had  to  take 
the  concrete  facts  connected  with  sewing  and  for- 
mulate them  into  problems  expressed  in  arithmetical 
language  before  they  could  get  the  required  results. 
This  was  something  that  their  regular  arithmetic 


SCHOOL   ARITHMETIC  147 

instruction  had  given  them  httle  practise  in  doing. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  way  in  which  the  frac- 
tions are  handled,  especially  in  the  petticoat  prob- 
lem, is  that  of  the  book  rather  than  the  shorter  busi- 
ness method.  In  the  chemise  problem  also,  note 
that  the  significance  of  fractions  is  not  estimated 
but  the  third  and  half  cents  are  reduced  to  sixths 
and  added. 

The  folly  of  strict  adherence  to  fixed  mathemat- 
ical rules,  without  using  common  sense,  is  shown  by 
the  following  incident.  One  of  the  girls  from  this 
school  had  a  temporary  position  in  a  store,  which 
she  hoped  might  become  permanent.  She  sold  three 
kinds  of  ribbon  to  one  customer,  but  the  amount  in 
each  case  was  three-fourths  of  a  yard  and  the  price 
nineteen  cents  per  yard.  She  did  not  comljine  the 
items,  then  calculate  the  amount,  but  tried  to  figure 
the  cost  of  each  piece  of  ribbon  according  to  the  rule 
for  multiplying  fractions.  She  took  so  long  that 
the 'Customer  became  impatient  and  another  clerk 
helped  her.  She  had  been  trained  in  arithmetical 
processes  at  the  expense  of  practical  judgment. 

This  is  the  case  in  many  schools,  hence  it  is  not 
strange  that  a  parent  should  report  that  in  every 
case  a  younger  child  who  had  not  been  in  school 
could  work  little  practical  problems  better  than  the 
older  who  had,  and  that  this  younger  child,  after 
he  had  been  in  school  a  few  years,  could  not  work 


148  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY. 

them  so  well  as  before,  nor  so  well  as  his  younger 
sister.  Teachers  with  the  academic  idea  of  training 
children  in  the  exact  science  of  mathematics  have 
in  reality  made  them  more  or  less  blind  followers  of 
rules,  with  no  thought  of  exercising  their  own  judg- 
ment in  solving  problems. 

SUGGESTIONS 

Courses  of  study  in  manual  training  are  being  replaced  by 
"projects"  on  the  ground  that  the  interest  and  the  incidental 
training  in  making  something  the  child  cares  to  make  more 
than  balance  the  ease  of  learning  produced  by  passing  step  by 
step  from  easy  to  more  difficult  processes.  There  are  similar 
reasons  for  learning  arithmetic  by  solving  concrete  problems 
instead  of  studying  it  in  an  abstract  way.  If  this  plan  were 
followed  the  children  would  not  learn  tables  or  processes  as 
separate  exercises,  but  would  incidentally  learn  number  com- 
binations, and  whenever  the  numbers  in  a  problem  were  too 
large  for  easy  mental  calculation  they  would  be  shown  how  to 
perform  the  process  more  easily  on  paper. 

Later,  in  the  eighth  grade  or  high  school,  arithmetic  could 
-be  studied  systematically  as  a  science.  The  question  is  much 
the  same  as  that  regarding  language,  where  one  may  either 
begin  or  end  with  grammar,  or  in  reading,  where  one  may 
learn  letters,  then  words,  or  learn  words,  then  the  letters  of 
which  they  are  composed. 

In  the  project  or  incidental  plan  of  learning  arithmetical 
processes  it  is  hard  to  get  systematic  knowledge  of  arithmetic, 
while  by  the  usual  plan  it  is  difficult  to  get  practical  knowl- 
edge. Both  ends  could  be  gained  by  having  many  problems 
worked  at  various  times,  as  the  solutions  were  needed  in  the 
process  of  construction,  then,  at  certain  times,  calling  attention 
to  the  common  principle  involved  in  several  problems  and 
showing  how  a  given  process  can  be  used  for  other  solutions. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE 

Practical  and  Vital  Arithmetic. — The  benefits 
derived  from  the  study  of  arithmetic  as  a  science 
are  as  great  as  those  derived  from  the  study  of 
any  other  abstract  science.  All  that  present-day 
educational  science  will  allow  to  be  claimed  for  the 
disciplinary  value  of  exact  thinking  may  be  well 
claimed  for  the  old-time  arithmetic  when  taught 
with  thoroughness.  A  few  pupils  in  each  school  ob- 
tained these  benefits  but  the  great  majority  of  them 
got  only  various  confused  ideas  and  discouragement. 
The  attempt  to  make  the  work  practical  by  having 
many  more  problems  like  those  in  real  life  has  prob- 
ably decreased  somewhat  the  disciplinary  value  of 
the  subject  to  the  few,  without  increasing  very  much 
the  practical  value  to  the  many. 

Only  by  associating  arithmetical  work  with  finan- 
cial and  other  problems  in  which  the  child  is  per- 
sonally interested  can  a  full  appreciation  of  the  na- 
ture and  value  of  arithmetic  be  pnjduced.  On  the 
other  hand,  financial  training  is  imperfect  and  in- 

149 


150  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

exact  without  a  pretty  good  knowledge  of  arith- 
metical processes.  If  the  child  has  had  good  finan- 
cial training  in  the  home,  before  and  after  entering 
school,  a  good  foundation  has  been  laid  for  work 
in  arithmetic.  The  school,  however,  needs  not  only 
to  build  on  this  foundation  but  it  must  continue  to 
associate  arithmetic  work  with  real  life  and  with 
financial  training.  This  is  now  being  done  in  many 
ways. 

Some  of  these  are  direct  and  natural  and  others 
more  indirect  and  artificial.  Not  all  the  uses  of 
arithmetic  in  real  life  are  financial,  but  most  of  such 
uses  are  sooner  or  later  of  financial  significance. 
Computation  regarding  pounds,  bushels,  gallons, 
acres,  miles,  etc.,  are  of  ultimate  value  chiefly  in 
comparing  or  determining  costs,  or  deciding  what 
procedure  is  most  or  least  profitable  in  various  oc- 
cupations and  transactions. 

Planning  Garden  Plots. — The  difference  be- 
tween ordinary  arithmetical  work  and  that  involved 
in  affairs  in  which  children  are  vitally  interested  was 
forcibly  brought  to  the  attention  of  one  teacher 
when  she  had  her  pupils  lay  out  a  piece  of  ground 
for  gardening.  The  amount  of  ground  that  could 
be  used  was  limited  and  it  was  desired  that  each  one 
should  have  as  large  a  plot  of  his  own  to  cultivate  as 
possible.  To  determine  the  size  of  each  plot  after 
allowing  for  paths  involved  a  good  deal  of  careful 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     151 

measuring  and  computing.  The  children  all  worked 
with  unusual  vigor  and  interest  at  the  problems.  One 
boy  who  had  hitherto  shown  little  interest  or  ability 
in  arithmetic  worked  at  these  difficult  problems  with 
greater  intensity,  persistency  and  success  than  any 
of  the  others.  When  asked  the  cause  of  his  change 
of  attitude  he  replied  that  in  the  other  work  in 
arithmetic  they  put  the  work  on  paper,  the  teacher 
marked  it  and  then  it  was  thrown  in  the  waste-bas- 
ket and  that  was  all  there  was  to  it,  while  these  new 
problems  meant  something.  "We  are  all  going  to 
have  just  as  big  a  piece  of  ground  as  we  can,  to  put 
in  garden,"  he  said. 

After  grounds  are  laid  out  for  a  garden,  planning 
how  much  of  each  kind  of  seed  will  be  needed,  order- 
ing the  necessary  amounts  of  seed  and  fertilizer  and 
computing  cost  for  each  plot  give  knowledge  of 
prices  and  ideas  of  business  transactions,  in  asso- 
ciation witii  the  necessary  arithmetical  processes,  in 
a  way  that  adds  to  the  child's  financial  training  by 
giving  him  an  appreciation  of  and  an  ability  in  prac- 
tical calculation  that  can  not  be  developed  in  years 
of  systematic  formal  arithmetic. 

Garden  Accounts. — The  following  is  a  cash  ac- 
count of  the  school  gardening  operations  carried  on 
by  the  eighth  grade  of  the  training  scho(jl  at  the 
State  Normal  at  Hyannis,  Massachusetts,  as  kept 
by  one  of  the  pupils. 


152  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

EIGHTH  GRADE  GARDEN,  CASH  ACCOUNT 

1913  Dr. 

Sept.  19— Beans,  Mr.  G $0.15 

Oct.      2— Checks,  Normal 11-32 

$11.47 
Oct.    27— By  balance 6.86 

1913  Cr. 

Feb.  26— J.  Breck  &  Sons $0.02 

Feb.  26— P.  Henderson  &  Co 02 

Feb.  26— R.  J.   Farquhar 02 

Feb.  26— C.  A.  Drier 02 

Feb.  26— Potter-Fiske-Rawson  Co 02 

Apr.    4— J.  Breck  &  Sons 02 

Apr.    9— J.  Breck  &  Sons 01 

Apr.  14 — Express,  seeds 35 

May    1— J.  Breck  &  Sons 2.85 

June  12— W.  D.  Baker 50 

June  12— M.  G.  Bradford 35 

June  19— W.  D.  Baker 18 

Oct.     2— Eldred,  work  in  garden 25 

Oct.     27— To  balance 6.86 

$11.47 

Practical  Judgment  Needed. — How  helpless 
children  are  Hkely  to  be  without  a  good  deal  of 
practical  training,  is  shown  by  the  following  experi- 
ence of  a  teacher  of  nature  study,  who  was  prepar- 
ing to  fumigate  a  greenhouse.  His  pupils  of  the 
eighth  grade  had  already  worked  some  problems  in 
connection  with  work  in  which  they  had  been  en- 
gaged, yet  when  he  told  them  the  amount  of  mate- 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     153 

rial  required  for  each  hundred  cubic  feet  of  space 
and  asked  them  to  find  how  much  would  be  needed 
to  fumigate  the  greenhouse  in  which  they  were  then 
standing,  only  half  of  them  realized  that  they  must 
first  measure  the  greenhouse  before  they  could  solve 
the  problem. 

In  cooking,  sewing  and  other  practical  arts — in 
work  of  all  kinds  where  the  children  are  doing  some- 
thing of  actual  value  to  themselves  individually  or 
to  the  school — various  calculations  are  necessary  if 
the  best  results  are  to  be  secured  in  the  shortest  time 
and  with  least  cost.  It  is  not  enough  to  have  such 
work  done  to  furnish  examples  for  arithmetical 
work,  or  to  ask  them  to  figure  the  cost  of  materials 
as  an  extra  task.  There  must  be  a  motive  for  en- 
gaging in  the  work  and  calculations  must  appear  as 
a  necessary  means  to  accomplishing  it. 

In  the  following  example  the  arithmetical  work 
in  connection  with  cooking  seems  to  be  very  good  as 
arithmetic  but  does  it  result  in  practical  training  in 
the  doing  of  what  is  necessary  in  the  shortest  way? 

HEAVY  WHITE  SAUCE 

Milk,  1  cup,  @  $0.08  qt.=4  cups $0.02 

Butter,  2  tablespoons,  (n)  .33  11).=2  cups 02062 

Flour,  2  tablespoons,  (aj  .29  Ib.=4  cups 00090 

Salt  Vi  teaspoon,  @  .21  for  20  lb 00002 

Total  for  12  girls $0.04154 


154  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

Is  it  necessary  to  calculate  the  cost  of  the  small 
amount  of  salt  used?  Would  any  practical  man 
take  the  time  to  do  so?  Do  not  the  children  feel 
that  they  are  calculating  only  for  practise? 

Again,  would  not  a  practical  man  avoid  the  nu- 
merous small  fractions  by  figuring  the  total  cost  for 
twelve  girls  and  then,  if  he  wished  the  cost  for  each, 
divide  by  twelve  ?  \ 

Exact  Figuring  for  Practise  Only  Not  Desir- 
able.— The  practise  of  making  a  little  dab  of  pud- 
ding or  a  coat  hanger  and  computing  the  cost  of 
material  and  perhaps  of  time  is  largely  a  formal 
process  that  usually  gives  little  practical  financial 
and  arithmetical  training.  The  amounts  are  so  small 
that  the  pupil  cares  little  for  the  answer,  which  in- 
volves long  operations  with  fractions.  On  the  other 
hand,  for  a  group  of  girls  to  plan  the  whole  meal 
for  a  certain  number  of  persons,  or  the  menu  for  the 
school  lunches  for  a  week,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
best  may  be  supplied  at  least  cost,  keeping  the  ex- 
pense within  a  certain  amount,  gives  the  very  best 
sort  of  practical  training  in  finance  and  in  arith- 
metical processes.  In  a  similar  way,  girls  and  boys 
who  are  doing  work  for  themselves  or  for  the  school 
may  get  the  best  of  training  by  planning  how  to 
make  a  dress,  a  hammock,  a  bookcase,  a  fence  or 
sidewalk,    without    the    cost    exceeding    a    certain 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     155 

amount.  To  make  such  calculations  effective  as  a 
means  of  financial  training,  children,  singly  and  in 
groups,  must  be  given  some  responsibility  in  the 
tasks  undertaken  and  enjoy  the  credit  of  having 
done  the  work  successfully,  not  only  from  the  me- 
chanical point  of  view  but  also  as  a  business  transac- 
tion. The  solving  of  problems  should  be  considered 
not  as  an  exercise  by  itself,  but  as  one  of  the  things 
that  must  be  done  in  order  to  accomplish  a  de- 
sired end.  The  school  should  honor  faithful  and  ef- 
ficient work  in  school  affairs  as  similar  work  in  the 
community  and  the  state  is  honored,  i.  e.,  by  some 
expression  of  appreciation  rather  than  by  a  formal 
mark. 

Responsibility  for  a  Luncheon. — In  the  New- 
ton, Massachusetts,  school  a  luncheon  was  served  to 
six  and  the  cost  figured  as  follows : 

POTATO  SOUP  (V/i  TIMI-.S  THE  RULE) 

5  potatoes    $0.05 

1J4  quarts  milk 10 

3  slices  onion 0025 

3^  tablespoons  butter 0416 

3  tablespoons  flour 0012 

2  teaspoons  gait 0002 

Seasonings  005 

$0.2005 

CROUTONS  FOR  SIX  GUESTS 

%  loaf  bread $0.02 


156  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

SPANISH  CREAM 

1  tablespoon  granulated  gelatine $0,025 

3  cups  milk 06 

3  eggs  06 

Yi  cup  sugar 0127 

1  teaspoon  vanilla 0104 

J4  teaspoon  salt 0005 

$0.1686 

CHEESE  WAFERS 

Yi,  pound  cheese $0,025 

Crackers  03 

$0,055 
DRESSED  LETTUCE 

1  head  lettuce $0.08 

French  Dressing — 

Seasonings 01 

2  tablespoons  vinegar 0014 

4  tablespoons  olive  oil 0388 

$0.1302 

MASHED  POTATO 

8  potatoes $0.18 

2  tablespoons  butter , 0206 

Yi  cup  milk 01 

Seasonings 005 

$0.1156 

WHITE   SAUCE 

1  cup  milk $0.02 

2  tablespoons  flour .0008 

2  tablespoons  butter .0206 

Seasonings  .005 

$0.0464 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     157 

-  SPONGE  CAKE 

4  eggs  $0.10 

1  cup  sugar 0255 

Yi  cup  potato  flour 0025 

1  teaspoon  baking  powder 01 

Frosting  047 

$0,185 

WHITE  MOUNTAIN   FROSTING 

Yi  cup  water 

1  cup  sugar $0.0255 

Yi  egg   (white) 0125 

Yi  teaspoons  vanilla 005 

$0,043 
COFFEE 

1  cup  coflFee $0.08 

1  egg 02 

Yi,  lb.  lump  sugar  @  .08  lb 01 

Yi  Pt.  cream  @  .08 11 

$0.19 

LUNCHEON.    NOVEMBER  13,  1913 

$1.57 
Menu  Total  Cost 

Potato  soup $0.20 

Croutons 02 

Lamb  chops  (kidney),  @  .30  lb 41 

Mashed  potatoes 11 

Creamed  carrots  (white  sauce) 05 

Bread 05 

Butter,  J4  lb.  («^  .33  lb 08 

Dressed  lettuce   11 

Cheese  wafers   04 

Spanish  cream 21 


158  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

Sponge  cake  14 

Coffee   105 

Frosting  for  cake 143 

$1,573 
This  lunch  was  served  to  six  persons 

The  cost  of  each  article  in  the  menu  was  recorded 
in  detail  on  separate  cards  and  the  totals  on  another 
card.  The  pupils  were  probably  instructed  as  to  the 
forms  to  be  used  and  the  work  was  neatly  done. 
Slight  errors,  apparently  in  copying,  were,  how- 
ever, made. 

Such  problems,  involving  cost  of  materials  ac- 
tually used,  must  give  valuable  financial  truths.  In 
proportion  as  they  feel  responsibility  for  a  correct 
answer,  do  the  pupils  solving  them  develop  economic 
appreciation  and  business  judgment  in  connection 
with  the  mathematical  calculations. 

Responsibility  for  School  Repairs  and  Sup- 
plies.— When  school  authorities  abandon  the 
policy  of  providing  buildings,  furniture  and  appara- 
tus and  keeping  them  in  complete  repair,  for  the 
plan  of  having  the  children,  under  the  guidance  of 
skilled  workmen  and  teachers,  make  a  good  deal  of 
the  furniture  and  apparatus  and  keep  everything  in 
repair,  it  will  be  possible  to  bring  children,  indi- 
vidually and  in  groups,  to  face  actual  problems  of 
finance  and  figuring. 

In  a   school   where   eighth-grade   children   were 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     159 

serving  lunch  for  the  rest  of  the  children  they  took 
part  in  making  change  and  in  making  up  the  ac- 
counts of  the  lunch-room,  as  well  as  in  preparing  the 
lunch  and  figuring  the  cost  of  materials.  The 
teacher,  however,  in  order  to  make  sure  that  every- 
thing was  properly  served  and  that  there  were  no 
mistakes  in  making  change,  supervised  it  all  pretty 
closely.  This  was  perhaps  well  at  first;  but  would 
it  not  have  been  possible,  after  some  practise,  to 
have  thrown  the  responsibility  on  them  and  thus 
have  given  them  the  same  stimulus  to  efficient  work 
that  is  found  in  real  life?  Should  they  not  also 
have  been  asked  to  compare  costs  with  receipts,  with 
a  view  to  fixing  future  prices  of  the  articles  served 
at  lunch? 

When  the  time  comes  that  children  are  engaged 
in  making  things  of  commercial  value  and  each 
school  has  a  certain  apportionment  to  be  used  in  sup- 
plying furniture  and  apparatus  for  that  building, 
and  in  making  improvements  and  repairs,  it  will  be 
possible  not  only  for  pupils  doing  the  work  to  get  the 
financial  training  involved  in  such  processes,  but  the 
commercial  students  may  keep  books  and  carry  on 
real  bookkeeping  in  connection  with  the  school 
finances. 

Expert  Training  in  All  Lines  Not  Needed. — 
To  be  entirely  successful  such  work  must  not  be  car- 
ried on  with  the  idea,  so  common  in  many  schools, 


160  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

that  each  pupil  must  learn  just  so  much  of  every 
thing  and  all  must  attain  equal  efficiency.  Instead, 
the  actual  conditions-  found  in  the  community 
should  be  allowed  to  have  their  counterpart  in  school. 
A  grocer  knows  something  of  dry  goods  and  book- 
keeping, of  baking,  carpentering  and  plumbing,  but 
he  has  special  knowledge  only  of  the  goods  and  the 
transactions  of  his  own  business.  In  a  similar  way 
each  pupil  should  know  something  of  the  processes, 
materials  and  methods  of  keeping  records  connected 
with  various  jobs  in  which  he  has  a  part,  but  the 
pupils  whose  special  business  it  is  to  make  a  cup- 
board for  the  cooking  room  need  not  be  experts  in 
cooking  or  in  bookkeeping,  but  they  should  know 
enough  of  one  to  plan  a  practicable  cupboard,  and 
of  the  other  to  hand  in  a  report  of  materials  used 
that  will  enable  the  keeper  of  books  to  do  his  work 
properly. 

Make-Believe  and  Real  Business. — Various 
devices  have  been  used  with  more  or  less  success  to 
make  arithmetical  processes  and  business  transac- 
tions real  to  children,  such  as  buying  and  selling  with 
imitation  money,  carrying  on  imaginary  bookkeep-' 
ing,  banking,  etc.  Many  of  them  involve  some  sort 
of  play  or  make-believe.  With  small  children  such 
devices  may  work  quite  well  because  they  are  often 
as  much  interested  in  playing  at  adult  activities  as  in 
actually  doing  things.     This  interest  is  not,  how- 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     161 

ever,  often  strong  enough  to  make  them  persist  in 
working  with  care  and  exactness.  They  would 
rather,  as  in  other  imaginative  play,  go  through  the 
form  of  doing  things  but  imagine  all  the  difficult 
parts  done,  instead  of  troubling  themselves  to  do 
them. 

With  older  children  the  make-believe  is  not  so  at- 
tractive. They  crave  realities  and  are  not  satisfied 
for  very  long  with  sham  transactions.  The  chief 
value  for  them,  and  one  of  the  chief  values  for 
younger  children  in  such  work,  is  in  learning  some- 
thing of  the  forms  of  business,  which  enables  them 
better  to  picture  the  conditions  of  the  problems 
given  in  business  arithmetic. 

In  other  cases  the  business  transactions  that  serve 
as  material  for  arithmetical  calculations  are  real. 
Real  bills,  notes,  receipts,  etc.,  are  brought  into  the 
schoolroom  and  the  children  make  just  such  calcula- 
tions as  the  clerk,  bookkeeper  or  banker  must  make. 
This  is  one  of  the  best  ways  of  giving  reality  to 
arithmetical  processes  and  a  good  preparation  for 
going  into  business.  The  children  may,  however, 
not  have  a  personal  interest  or  responsibility  in 
making  such  calculations.  They  know  that  those 
who  are  carrying  on  the  business  will  not  make  any 
use  of  their  figures. 

If,  however,  the  pupil  has  interspersed  with  make- 
believe  problems  and  real  business  problems  of  other 


162  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

people  some  individual  and  school  problems  that  are 
real,  and  in  which  the  results  are  of  importance  to 
the  pupil  or  to  the  school  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
interest  will  be  felt  in  problems  that  do  not  so  di- 
rectly concern  him  and  he  will  get  a  broader  finan- 
cial and  arithmetical  training  than  he  would  get  if 
he  worked  only  the  problems  that  arise  in  the  finan- 
cial affairs  of  himself  and  his  school. 

School  Problems. — Some  of  the  same  results 
are  obtained  by  studying  the  business  of  some  one 
in  the  community  and  trying  to  solve  his  practical 
problems.  In  one  school  the  children  make  a  study 
of  such  occupations  as  those  of  milkman  or  boot- 
black, figuring  out  the  actual  or  probable  income, 
the  expenses  and  the  profits.  They  also  try  to  solve 
practical  problems  such  as :  "Does  it  pay  best  to  buy 
dresses  ready-made  or  to  buy  material  and  make 
them,  taking  into  account  the  time  required  to  make 
them  and  the  length  of  time  they  will  last?"  In  at 
least  one  school  nearly  the  whole  of  the  arithmetic 
work  is  of  this  type  and  it  is  claimed  the  results  are 
good. 

Pupils  Trained  to  Do  Business. — In  the  Nor- 
mal School  at  Fitchburg,  Massachusetts,  the  chil- 
dren of  the  eighth  grade  of  the  Practical  Arts 
School  who  are  taking  the  commercial  course  get  a 
good  deal  of  practical  economic  training  by  assist- 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     163 

ing  the  bookkeeper  in  auditing  the  bills  of  the  insti- 
tution and  in  writing  its  business  letters. 

The  commercial  department  is  conducted  as  a  reg- 
ular business  institution  and  is  practically  the  Nor- 
mal School  business  office,  where  all  of  the  checks  are 
made  out  by  the  children,  and  supplies  are  accounted 
for  and  disbursed.  The  school  accounts  are  kept 
here,  car  tickets  are  sold  to  the  students  of  both  the 
Normal  and  Practical  Arts  Schools,  and  most  of  the 
school  typewriting  is  also  done  in  this  department. 
All  of  the  Normal  School  checks,  which  are  nu- 
merous and  often  for  large  amounts,  are  written 
here.  One  of  the  children  recently  had  the  experi- 
ence of  writing  a  check  for  over  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, as  the  final  payment  on  the  new  school  dor- 
mitory. 

Practical  experience  in  bookkeeping  is  provided 
by  the  school  accounts  and  books,  considerable  busi- 
ness detail  being  involved  in  the  management  of  the 
school,  with  its  several  model  and  practise  schools, 
dormitories,  etc.,  all  of  which  is  now  conducted  by 
the  children  under  adult  supervision.  The  school 
supplies  are  looked  after  efficiently  by  this  depart- 
ment, records  being  kept  of  those  on  hand  and  those 
given  out,  and  new  orders  placed  by  the  children. 
In  the  sale  of  car  tickets  and  in  many  other  instances 
actual  money  is  handled  by  the  children. 


164  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

Estimating  the  Cost  of  Work  Being  Done. — 

The  pupils  of  the  same  school  who  are  taking  the 
practical  arts  course  get  many  of  the  problems  in 
arithmetic  from  the  various  jobs  that  they  do.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  problems  formulated  by 
young  men  taking  the  practical  arts  course  for 
teachers,  and  solved  by  pupils  of  the  eighth  grade  in 
the  practical  arts  school.  The  problems  mean  some- 
thing because  the  pupils  have  all  had  a  part  in  the 
work  with  which  they  deal.  To  get  the  full  benefit 
of  this  kind  of  work  the  children  should  have  a  part 
in  formulating  the  principal  problem  of  total  cost, 
then  the  subordinate  problems  that  must  be  solved 
in  order  to  get  the  total.  It  would  be  well  also  to 
have  estimates  of  cost  compared  later  with  actual 
accounts  of  time  and  material  required. 

PROBLEMS  ON  PAPER  CABINET  FOR  NORMAL 
SCHOOL  OFFICE 

Statements.    The  cabinet  consists  of  the  following  pieces : 

(A)  Top  and  bottom,  each  24^"  x  16". 

(B)  Two  sides,  each  23^"xl6". 

(C)  Back,  231^"  X  24%". 

All  these  pieces  are  %"  thick. 

(D)  Three  shelves,  each  23j^"  x  16"  x  J^". 
Oak  is  $66.00  per  M.  board  feet. 

Problem.  What  will  be  the  cost  for  the  lumber  in  this 
cabinet? 

Statements.  A  journeyman  carpenter  takes  2^  hours  to 
do  the  machine  work,  and  V/2  hours  to  put  the  case  together 
and  sandpaper  it. 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     165 

Problem.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  labor  on  this  cabinet  at 
$.40  an  hour? 

Statements.    It  takes — 
(J)  1  lb.  of  filler  with  stain  @  $.20  a  lb. 
(K)   1  pt.  of  shellac  @  $2.40  a  gal. 
(L)   1  qt.  of  varnish  @  $3.00  a  gal. 

Problem.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  material  to  finish  this 
cabinet : 

Statements.    It  takes — 

(M)  A  journeyman  painter  V/2  hours  to  fill,  stain  and  rub 
the  cabinet. 

(N)  y2  hr.  to  put  on  and  rub  one  coat  of  shellac. 

(O)   1  hr.  to  put  on  two  coats  of  varnish. 

Problem.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  labor  in  finishing  the 
cabinet  @  $.40  an  hour  ? 

Statements. 

(P)  The  work  of  one  journeyman  is  equal  to  the  work  of 
2  young  men  and  to  the  work  of  12  eighth-grade  boys. 

Problem.  How  long  will  it  take  1  young  man  and  1  boy  to 
construct  this  cabinet?    How  long  to  finish  it? 

167xl6=23.5x24.7S=22.594=Bd.  ft.  of  lumber. 


144  144 

22.594X66=:$1.4912  exact  cost  for  lumber. 


1000 

1.4912x6/5=$1.79=probable  cost,  allowing  1/5  extra  for  buy- 
ing and  waste. 

4X$.40=$1.60,  cost  of  constructing. 

1  lb.  of  filler $0.20 

1  pt.  of  shellac .30 

1  qt.  of  varnish 75 


$1.25=cost  for  finishing  material. 


166  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

Statement. 

It  takes  a  carpenter  4  hrs.  to  do  his  work. 
It  takes  a  young  man  8  hours  to  do  his  work. 
It  takes  a  boy  48  hours  to  do  his  work. 
The  young  man  can  do  J/^  in  1  hr. 
The  boy  can  do  1/48. 
They  can  do  together  7/48  in  1  hr. 

48-^-7=66/7  hrs.=time  for  young  man  and  boy  to  con- 
struct cabinet. 

It  takes  a  painter  3  hrs.  to  do  work. 
It  takes  a  young  man  6  hrs.  to  do  work. 
It  takes  a  boy  36  hrs.  to  do  work. 
The  young  man  can  do  1/6  in  1  hr. 
The  boy  can  do  1/36  in  1  hr. 
They  can  do  together  7/36  in  1  hr. 

36-^7=5  1/7  hrs.  time  for  young  man  and  boy  to  finish 
work. 


CONCRETE  WALK 

Extends  from  Highland  Avenue  to  the  subway  connecting 
the  Normal  School  and  the  Edgerly  School. 

EXCAVATION 

1.  All  excavations  are  carried  to  a  depth  of  18". 

2.  All  excavations  are  carried  to  the  width  of  the  drive 
plus  the  space  on  each  side  of  the  drive  which  is  occupied  by 
the  forms. 

3.  The  building  of  the  forms  necessitates  excavatng  6"  be- 
yond the  edges  of  the  walk. 

LABOR 

1.  On  account  of  the  ground  in  this  case,  five  men  can 
excavate  20  cu.  yd.  of  dirt  per  8-hour  day. 

2.  All  excavating  and  filling  is  done  by  these  laborers,  who 
are  each  paid  $2.00  per  8-hour  day,  except  one  man,  who  acts 
as  foreman,  and  receives  $2.50. 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     167 

3.  Base  is  made  of  cinders  and  cobbles.    It  is  13"  in  depth. 

4.  Laborers  will  fill  in  base  as  fast  as  they  excavate  the 
ground. 

5.  Two  carpenters  can  build  100  linear  ft.  of  forms  for  the 
walk  per  8-hour  day.    They  are  each  paid  $3.50  per  day. 

Questions 

1.  What  will  be  the  cost  for  labor  in  excavating  435  sq. 
yd.  of  ground  to  a  depth  of  18"? 

2.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  labor  in  filling  435  sq.  yd.  of 
base  13"  in  depth? 

3.  What  will  be  the  cost  for  labor  in  building  wooden 
forms  on  both  sides  of  257  linear  ft.  of  walks? 

Statement 

The  layer  above  the  base,  called  grout,  is  4"  in  depth,  and 
consists  of  1  part  cement,  3  parts  sand  and  5  parts  cobbles. 
The  upper  surface  is  1"  in  depth  and  consists  of  1  part  cement, 
1  part  sand  and  1  part  granite  chips. 

LABOR 

Five  laborers  mix  and  fill  10  cu.  yd.  of  grout  as  quickly  as 
they  excavate  20  cu.  yd.  of  ground.  Five  laborers  can  mix 
and  fill  50  sq.  yds.  of  wearing  surface  per  8-hour  day.  One 
of  these  men,  a  mason,  is  paid  $4.80  per  8-hour  day. 

Problems 

1.  What  will  be  the  cost  for  labor  in  mixing  and  filling  435 
sq.  yd.  of  grout,  4"  in  depth? 

2.  What  will  be  the  cost  for  labor  in  mixing  and  filling  435 
sq.  yd.  of  wearing  surface,  1"  in  depth? 

435X/^=no.  of  cu.  yd. 
217.5  cu.  yd.  -f-20  cu.  yd.=10^=no.  of  da. 
$10.50X19^6=$!  14.1875=cxact  cost. 
$10.50X1  l=$115.50=probable  cost. 


168  THE   USE    OF    MONEY 

435x13/36=157  l/12=ino.  cu.  yd. 
157  1/12  cu.  yd.-f-20  cu.  yd.=:7  41/48=:no.  of  da. 
$10.50X7  41/48=$82.46875=exact  cost. 
$10.50x8=$84.00=probable  cost. 

514  linear  ft.  of  forms  to  be  made. 
514  linear  ft.-f-lOO  linear  ft.=5.14=no.  of  da. 
$7.00x5.14=:$35.98=exact  cost 
$7.00x5.5=$38.50=probable  cost. 

435xl/9=48i^=no.    4— $2.00      4.8^=days  to  lay  grout 

cu.  yd.  of  grout     1 — $4.80      8.7    =days  to  lay  top  surface 


$12.80    13.5^=total  no.  days 


$12.80xl3.Si^=$173.2666=:exact  cost. 
5  men  13.5  days=$172.80. 
Boys  and  1  man  ^  day=$3.40. 
$172.80+$3.40=$176.20=probable  cost. 


5  men  13  days=$166.40. 

Extra  man  Yi  day  and  5  regular  men  Yi  day=7.40. 

$166.40  plus  7.40=$173.80=probable  cost 

Community  Accounting  in  School. — A  plan 
which  has  been  begun  and  is  likely  to  be  extended  is 
that  of  interesting  children  in  the  financial  affairs  of 
the  home  and  the  community  and  letting  them  be- 
come more  or  less  responsible  for  keeping  records 
and  making  calculations.  In  rural  communities  boys 
may  keep  the  farm  crop  accounts  and  the  girls  the 
home  accounts  under  the  supervision  of  the  teacher. 
In  cities  some  of  the  home  and  business  calculations 
may  be  performed  by  the  children  under  the  direc- 


ARITHMETIC  WITH  A  MOTIVE     169 

tion  of  the  teacher,  of  course  not  bringing  in  any- 
thing that  is  essentially  private. 

In  both  rural  and  city  communities  children  may 
keep  some  or  all  of  the  public  accounts  with  the  help 
of  the  teacher.  In  one  town  all  the  school  accounts 
are  kept  by  the  pupils.  In  another  all  of  the  town 
accounts  are  kept  by  the  children.  They  also  take 
part  in  planning  the  budgets,  figuring,  assessments, 
etc.,  for  the  next  year.  Nothing  can  be  of  more 
practical  value  in  arithmetical,  financial  and  social 
training  than  such  work  as  this.  In  Gary  the 
pupils  run  a  cooperative  store  where  school  supplies 
are  purchased. 

Superintendent  Edgerly,  of  Fitchburg,  in  the  fol- 
lowing statement  sent  out  to  his  schools,  gives  il- 
lustrations of  what  may  be  done  to  associate  real 
financial  training  with  arithmetical  work. 

February,  1913. 
It  is  expected  that  the  city  of  Fitchburg  will  appropriate 
for  the  school  department  this  year  amounts  as  follows : 

Item  1.    Salaries  of  Teachers  in  Day  Schools  and 

Superintendent    $104,000.00 

Item  2.     Salaries  of  F-vcninR  Scliool  Teachers 2,580.00 

Item  3.     Transportation  of  Pupils 1,720.00 

Item  4.    Free  Text-Books  and  Supplies 6,100.00 

Item  5.     Incidentals    9,300.00 

In  case  these  sums  shall  be  appropriated,  what  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  sura  will  be  appropriated  for  item  1? 


170  THE    USE   OF    MONEY 

What  per  cent,  for  item  2? 
What  per  cent,  for  item  3? 
What  per  cent,  for  item  4? 
What  per  cent,  for  item  5? 

There  are  in  all  the  schools  four  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty-one  pupils.  How  much  will  be  appropriated  for  each 
pupil?  Thirteen  years  is  the  time  allowed  for  completing  the 
entire  course.  In  case  each  one  of  these  pupils  should  attend 
school  the  entire  time  and  the  amount  appropriated  each  year 
for  each  pupil  should  be  the  same  amount  that  is  appropri- 
ated this  year,  how  much  will  the  city  expend  for  the  educa- 
tion of  each  pupil? 

Name  of  Pupil 

Name  of    School 

Grade   

Date   

SUGGESTIONS 

The  following  questions  may  well  be  considered  by  indi- 
viduals and  clubs  interested  in  better  financial  training  of 
school  children. 

What  work  in  arithmetic  in  your  schools  is  helping  chil- 
dren to  a  real  knowledge  of  financial  affairs  and  what  is  not? 

How  may  the  children  not  only  be  interested  in  the  work 
but  feel  responsible  that  the  results  shall  be  correct? 

Will  children  continue  to  be  interested  in  working  even 
vitally  important  problems  if  they  are  unsuccessful? 

What  means  may  be  used  to  keep  up  their  courage  and 
interest  in  the  case  of  difficult  problems? 

If  a  practical  problem  involves  a  process  not  yet  learned, 
would  it  be  well,  when  the  numbers  are  such  as  to  make  it 
difficult,  to  use  a  simpler  problem  to  teach  that  process? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

INCIDENTAL   AND   INTENTIONAL    FINANCIAL   TRAIN- 
ING IN  SCHOOL  AFFAIRS 

Free  Supplies  May  Encourage  Waste. — In 
most  public  schools  where  there  is  no  tuition,  and 
books,  paper,  pencils,  etc.,  are  supplied  free,  the  chil- 
dren think  very  little  about  the  cost  of  anything  that 
they  use.  Teachers  sometimes  try  to  give  financial 
training  by  urging  them  to  economize  in  the  use  of 
supplies.  Such  experiences  as  the  following  are  re- 
ported by  normal  students : 

"We  were  continually  told  to  be  saving  of  the 
paper  and  pencils  that  were  given  us  and  to  be  care- 
ful c)f  the  text-books  and  other  school  property.  I 
well  remember  the  day  when  we  were  first  given  in- 
dividual blocks  of  paper.  Each  of  us  felt  so  proud. 
Soon  many  of  us  were  using  paper  in  enormous 
quantities,  writing  a  word  or  two  on  one  sheet,  then 
destroying  it  and  using  another  in  like  manner.  Our 
teacher  was  disgusted  with  us.  The  day  came  when 
she  gave  us  a  grand  lecture,  telling  us  that  every 
sheet  we  wasted  cost  the  town  so  much.    From  this 

171 


172  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY 

she  went  on  to  say  that  as  the  town  expenses  in- 
creased, so  did  the  taxes.  This  has  always  remained 
with  me  and  I  class  it  among  the  instances  in  my 
life  which  have  given  me  financial  training." 

"In  the  primary  grades  I  learned  somewhat  to 
know  the  value  of  money.  Ever  since  I  can  remem- 
ber, I've  been  told  not  to  mark  or  tear  books  and 
not  to  waste  paper.  I've  been  told  that  books  were 
valuable  and  must  be  used  for  many  years.  I  re- 
member one  teacher  saying,  'Never  throw  away  a 
piece  of  paper  while  there  is  a  bit  of  blank  space  on 
it.'  Of  course,  like  most  children,  I  considered  this 
foolish,  but  after  seeing  how  much  good  paper  was 
thrown  away  each  day  I  began  to  realize  how  waste- 
ful and  extravagant  some  people  were.  They  used 
four  or  five  times  as  much  paper  as  they  needed, 
thereby  spending  or  causing  to  be  spent  four  or  five 
times  as  much  as  was  necessary." 

"The  greater  part  of  my  schooling  was  gained  in 
a  small  country  town  where  books,  pencils,  paper, 
etc.,  were  furnished  us.  We  were  cautioned  in  re- 
gard to  marking  the  books  or  soiling  them;  the  pa- 
per was  given  to  us  in  small  quantities  when  we 
needed  it.  Our  pencil  generally  was  to  last  us  one 
term,  and  thus  the  teacher,  to  some  extent,  instilled 
into  our  minds  the  value  of  these  materials  and  the 
cost  of  them  to  the  town.  Still,  I  noticed  that  the 
books  were  disfigured,  the  paper  often  needlessly 


SCHOOL   AFFAIRS  173 

wasted  and  pencils  lost,  and  I  never  realized  very 
greatly  until  about  twelve  the  real  saving  that  could 
be  made.  At  this  age,  from  September  to  the  mid- 
dle of  November,  I  went  to  school  in  Tuxedo,  New 
York.  Even  for  so  short  a  time  I  was  obliged  to 
buy  all  the  books  I  was  to  use,  together  with  every 
pencil  and  piece  of  paper.  Then  it  was  I  began  to 
know  the  advantages  of  my  country  school  life  and 
the  cost  of  the  articles  we  used." 

Each  School  Might  Be  Responsible  for  Its 
Supplies. — It  is  evident  that  although  some- 
times lasting  effects  may  be  produced  by  a  teacher's 
words  and  acts  with  regard  to  supplies,  yet  without 
definite  figuring  and  personal  experience  of  cost  on 
the  part  of  pupils  her  teaching  is  not  likely  to  be 
permanently  effective. 

Indeed  it  may  be  claimed  that  furnishing  free 
school  supplies  is  unfavorable  to  giving  real  finan- 
cial training,  because  the  children  do  not  themselves 
feel  the  results  of  wastefulness.  It  would  be  possi- 
l)le,  however,  to  get  the  advantages  of  free  supplies 
and  at  the  same  time  get  good  financial  training 
l)Oth  individual  and  social.  If  each  school  were 
allowed  so  much  for  supplies  each  year,  with  the 
privilege  of  using  any  money  saved  from  this  sum 
for  buying  pictures,  library  books,  play  apparatus  or 
other  things  of  value  to  the  school,  there  would  be 
an  excellent  cliance  for  the  teacher  and  pupils  to  do 


174  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

real  financiering.  Accounts  could  be  kept  of  all 
supplies  received  and  used  during  each  term,  by  the 
school  and  perhaps  by  each  pupil.  The  children 
could  then  figure  out  the  amount  and  cost  of  the 
various  articles  used  and  perhaps  the  amounts  used 
individually.  They  could  also  plan  how  to  econo- 
mize and  how  to  spend  what  they  saved. 

The  allowance  to  the  school  might  include  money 
for  repairs,  and  the  children  could,  in  some  cases, 
buy  the  materials  and  do  the  work  themselves,  thus 
saving  money  and  at  the  same  time  getting  the  best 
possible  financial  and  industrial  training.  The  fol- 
lowing testimonies  are  of  interest  in  this  connec- 
tion: 

"In  the  first  and  second  grades,  every  Christmas, 
my  teacher  planned  a  celebration.  Each  child  bought 
one  present  for  some  one  else,  and  we  were  limited 
as  to  the  amount  which  we  could  spend.  This,  I 
think,  was  a  beginning  which  helped  to  train  my 
mind  in  the  use  of  money.  I  had  the  experience  of 
seeing  how  far  I  could  make  my  money  go  and  in 
choosing  the  best  thing  I  could  buy  for  that  sum. 
Further  on,  in  higher  grades,  we  used  to  bring 
money  for  flowers  for  sick  classmates.  This  expe- 
rience was  of  value  in  that  it  taught  me  that  if 
every  one  helps  in  a  financial  work  by  giving  a  little 
success  can  be  attained." 

"All  through  our  high-school  life  our  class  had, 


SCHOOL   AFFAIRS  175 

financially  but  one  object  in  view.  That  was  to  make 
money  with  which  to  go  to  Washington.  We  sold 
popcorn  and  lemonade  at  baseball  games.  We  gave 
plays,  suppers  and  fairs.  We  collected  old  papers, 
had  a  lunch  counter  at  school  and  worked  our  brains 
over  many  a  money-making  scheme.  Besides  earn- 
ing money  we  were  unconsciously  acquiring  some- 
thing that  would  do  us  far  more  good.  \Ye  were  ac- 
quiring the  ability  to  make  money  and  were  learn- 
ing to  plan  ways  of  our  own  to  that  end.  We  were 
learning  its  value  also,  and  what  a  hard  thing  it  is 
to  get." 

"In  the  lower  grades  I  had  little  training  in  a 
financial  way.  Money  was  collected  once  or  twice 
a  year  for  presents  or  charity,  but  not  until  the 
seventh  grade  did  we  have  a  class  treasury.  Our 
teacher  tried  to  get  us  greatly  interested  in  our  class 
affairs.  One  day  we  all  brought  rubbers  and  with 
the  money  obtained  from  the  junkman  we  increased 
our  fund  to  the  great  sum  of  four  dollars.  Then 
again  we  hired  a  team  and  collected  all  the  news- 
papers we  could  beg.  We  sold  them  to  the  same 
junkman  and  added  sixty  cents  to  our  hoard.  When 
I  entered  the  high  school  I  obtained  further  train- 
ing l)y  being  appointed  class  collector  for  the  ath- 
letic association.  At  times  this  was  a  great  trial  and 
I  certainly  found  out  how  hard  it  is  to  part  some 
people  from  their  money.    My  greatest  training  was 


176  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

in  the  senior  year  when  we  held  our  dances  and  re- 
joiced at  the  end  of  the  year  to  hear  that  we  had 
made  one  hundred  dollars  on  our  paper." 

"In  high  school,  as  a  member  of  the  school  coun- 
cil, I  had  the  handling  of  money  from  the  sale  of 
tickets  for  our  entertainments,  lectures,  games  and 
athletics.  Then  at  the  meetings  held  by  the  editors 
of  our  school  paper  we  discussed  many  topics  deal- 
ing with  money,  such  as  the  cost  of  getting  out  the 
paper,  the  amount  to  be  charged  for  advertising 
space  and  the  price  per  copy,  in  order  to  put  it  on  a 
paying  basis.  Junior  and  senior  year  there  was  the 
collecting  of  class  dues,  expenditures  for  class-day 
demonstrations  and  a  general  clearing  up  of  class 
bills.  Lastly,  as  a  member  of  our  class  book  com- 
mittee, I  obtained  a  definite  idea  of  just  how  much  it 
costs  to  publish  such  a  book,  for  the  printing,  en- 
graving, binding  and  many  little  things  increase  the 
expense." 

"During  our  senior  year  the  book  supply  room 
was  under  the  charge  of  a  student  for  a  large  part 
of  the  time.  The  student  in  charge  sold  supplies  to 
the  other  students.  Tickets  for  all  entertainments 
or  lectures  at  the  school  were  sold  by  students." 

Opportunities  for  Financial  Training  Becom- 
ing Greater. — It  is  evident  from  the  examples 
given  that  there  are  many  opportunities  in  every 
school  for  real  financial  training  and  for  good  prac- 


SCHOOL    AFFAIRS  177 

tise  in  arithmetical  processes  in  working  problems 
where  the  amounts  are  of  specific  significance  to  the 
children.  Teachers  have  been  taking  advantage  of 
these  opportunities  to  a  limited  extent.  With  the 
present  increase  of  practical  work  in  the  school  and 
of  cooperative  social  action  on  the  part  of  classes, 
societies  and  schools,  there  will  be  many  ways  for 
live  teachers  to  give  effective  financial  training  and 
at  the  same  time  to  succeed  at  last  in  making  arith- 
metic practical. 

The  following  statement,  from  Principal  Currier 
of  the  training  school  of  the  Hyannis  Normal 
School,  Massachusetts,  describes  some  of  these 
ways : 

"In  the  garden  work  the  children  keep  an  account 
with  the  garden  and  themselves,  in  which  they  learn 
how  to  enter  items  of  expense  and  receipts,  and  how 
to  balance  the  same.  In  the  sale  of  vegetables  from 
the  garden  arises  the  question  of  the  advantage  of 
sales  to  the  consumer  directly,  such  as  the  Normal 
School,  and  to  the  middleman  or  the  local  store- 
keeper. 

"In  the  club  the  members  pay  dues  of  five  cents 
every  two  weeks,  and  if  not  paid  on  time  they  are 
fined  one  cent  per  week  until  they  are  paid.  Their 
attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  possibly  this  is 
comparable  to  the  interest  charges  on  taxes  when 
taxes  arc  not  paid  at  a  certain  time. 


178  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

"For  a  few  years  past  the  boys  in  the  manual 
training  room  have  put  into  the  club  treasury  a  cer- 
tain per  cent,  of  their  money  earned  in  their  work 
there.  Some  of  the  children  earned  more  than  oth- 
ers and  so  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  club  larger 
amounts  than  others.  We  tried  to  tie  this  up  to  the 
study  of  taxes. 

"On  inquiry  I  find  that  a  number  of  the  children 
have  bank  accounts  which  they  started  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  parent  or  some  other  relative.  A  few  keep 
a  sort  of  cash  account,  and  while  begun  before  their 
study  of  such  a  subject  in  the  school,  yet  the  school 
discussion  has  helped  them  to  a  little  better  and 
neater  bookkeeping. 

"When  the  postal  savings  bank  was  established 
at  the  local  post-office,  the  subject  of  a  bank  account, 
the  saving  of  money,  etc.,  was  discussed  with  the 
children,  and  an  effort  made  to  induce  them  to  start 
an  account.  Four  of  the  children  of  this  year's 
eighth  and  ninth  grades  are  pledged  to  start  such  an 
account." 

From  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  reply  to  questions, 
comes  the  following  account  of  the  financial  train- 
ing in  one  school. 

"Children  are  encouraged  to  bring  proper  lunches 
from  home.  Since  we  have  not  a  lunch-room,  there 
being  no  place  for  it  at  present,  bringing  pennies  to 
school  is  forbidden  in  the  primary  grades. 


SCHOOL   AFFAIRS  179 

"Children  are  healthier  and  the  attendance  is  im- 
proved thereby. 

"California  privet  and  English  ivy,  raised  in  a 
small  cold  frame  three  feet  square,  were  sold.  Veg- 
etables and  flower  seeds,  raised  in  the  school  and 
home  gardens,  were  also  sold.  This  money  was 
used  for  garden  tools. 

"Our  City  Beautiful  Club,  comprised  of  children 
of  grades  two-six,  contributes  five  cents  per  month 
per  family.  This  is  not  compulsory,  however.  Two 
pictures  were  bought  by  the  club  for  the  school. 
The  Harvest  Field  ($4.50)  and  TJie  Birch  Trees 
($7.25). 

"Each  fall  bulbs  are  distributed  among  its  mem- 
bers and  among  those  residents  who  live  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood  of  the  school,  also  five  hun- 
dred bulbs  for  the  school  garden. 

"Sixty  yards  of  calico  were  sent  to  a  mountain 
school  in  Kentucky  to  be  made  up  into  children's 
bonnets,  aprons  and  dresses.  These  were  sold  to 
the  parents  of  the  school  at  one  of  their  bazaars 
to  help  defray  the  expense  of  a  fence  surrounding 
the  school,  thus  enabling  them  to  plant  vines,  flow- 
ers and  trees  and  otherwise  beautify  the  premises." 

Superintendent  Mills  of  Ogdcn  City  schools, 
Utah,  reports  as  follows: 

"We  are  making  a  systematic  effort  to  have  boys 
work  either  at  home  or  elsewhere  for  money.    Fur- 


180  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

ther  to  aid  in  this  effort,  one  unit  of  credit  is  given 
on  the  school  cards  for  'home  industry.'  We  preach 
the  doctrine  that  a  parent  who  does  not  train  a  son 
or  daughter  to  work  and  save  is  robbing  the  com- 
munity of  a  good  citizen  and  bequeathing  a  nui- 
sance." 

Some  schools  have  a  better  chance  for  giving  inci- 
dental and  direct  financial  training  than  others.  In 
all  vocational  and  trade  schools,  either  half  or  whole 
time,  and  in  continuation  schools,  there  are  good 
chances  for  directly  correlating  the  work  done  with 
real  financial  problems  and  the  methods  of  figuring 
and  accounting  associated  with  them.  In  the  Fitch- 
burg  high  school  the  commercial  students  keep  the 
accounts  of  the  stamp  savings  in  the  schools. 

In  Los  Angeles  all  the  financial  affairs  of  the  high- 
school  community  are  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils, 
supervised  by  members  of  the  faculty.  They  not 
only  attend  to  the  finances  of  the  class  and  athletic 
and  other  affairs,  but  they  raise  money  for  school 
purposes,  such  as  a  printing  press  or  an  athletic  field, 
by  forming  a  stock  company  and  selling  stock.  The 
profits,  if  there  are  any,  go  into  the  general  school 
fund. 

Financiering  in  Institutions. — In  such  an  in- 
stitution as  the  "George  Junior  Republic"  the  finan- 
cial training  is,  in  the  nature  of  the  institution, 
inevitable.     All  members  must  work  for  money  to 


SCHOOL   AFFAIRS  181 

pay  for  their  board  and  to  buy  clothing  or  other 
things  that  they  need  or  wish.  The  motives  for 
proper  management  of  their  own  affairs  are  the 
same  as  will  influence  them  when  they  are  adults. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  the  fact  that  although  many 
of  the  early  residents  of  the  "Republic"  were  used 
to  getting  all  they  could  out  of  charity  workers,  yet 
when  the  "Republic"  was  established,  nearly  all  be- 
came self-supporting.  The  few  who  allowed  them- 
selves to  become  a  public  expense  were  so  unpopular 
that  they  soon  began  earning  their  own  food  and 
clothing.  Without  this  financial  feature  of  the  in- 
stitution a  self-governing  reform  school,  such  as 
this,  would  be  utterly  impossible.  The  plan  might 
be  extended  to  orphan  asylums  and  other  institu- 
tions, but  not  so  effectively  to  those  where  the  in- 
mates spend  only  a  part  of  the  day  at  the  institu- 
tions. 

Accounts  of  School  Organizations. — There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  many  officers  of  student  organ- 
izations handle  a  large  amount  of  money  in  a  very 
unbusines.slike  way.  Not  only  do  mistakes  and  dis- 
satisfaction sometimes  result,  but  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity to  teach  officers  of  such  .societies  and,  to  a  less 
extent,  all  members,  proper  business  methods,  is 
often  missed.* 


*.\  Roof!  account  of  the  instruction  Riven  stiiflcnts  in  one 
institution  tliat  is  awake  to  the  importance  of  tlie  matter  will 
be  found  in  The  School  Review  for  January,  1911,  pp.  25-.13. 


182  JHE   USE   OF    MONEY, 

SUGGESTIONS 

The  following  questions  are  worth  considering:  Is  there 
anything  in  your  home  school  to  interest  children  in  the  care 
of  school  or  town  property?  What  more  could  be  done?  Is 
there  any  supervision  of  the  accounts  of  athletic,  class  and 
other  organizations  in  your  schools?  Should  there  be?  Why? 
Would  it  be  feasible  to  use  the  economic  feature  of  the 
"George  Junior  Republic"  in  a  prison  or  reformatory?  Should 
children  in  the  grades,  as  well  as  in  the  high  school,  pay  for 
defaced  books  or  furniture  or  broken  apparatus? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

HOME  AND  COMMUNITY  LIFE  IN   FINANCIAL 
TRAINING 

Personal  Experience  Not  Enough. — The  ex- 
periences of  children  form  the  real  basis  for  finan- 
cial training.  Only  by  earning  and  spending  money 
can  one  appreciate  the  real  significance  of  money  as 
a  measure  of  effort  put  forth,  and  of  possible  satis- 
faction. In  the  case  of  children,  however,  such  ex- 
perience is  narrow.  Most  children  have  had  the 
experience  of  earning  money  in  only  a  few  ways 
and  have  had  occasion  to  spend  money  for  only  a 
few  of  the  many  things  that  it  will  buy.  In  order 
to  know  the  place  of  money  in  the  society  of  which 
he  is  to  become  a  responsible  adult  meml)er  he  must 
be  led  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  others. 

Instruction  by  Precepts  and  Stories. — Various 
maxims,  such  as  "A  penny  saved  is  a  penny  earned," 
are  used  with  more  or  less  effect  upon  younger  chil- 
dren, while  older  ones  gain  something  from  the 
study  of  bookkeeping,  commercial  law  and  cconom- 

183 


184  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

ics.  Such  teaching,  when  abstract  in  character,  has 
httle  effect  on  the  hves  of  children  and  young  people. 
In  the  case  of  smaller  children  much  greater  effects 
may  be  produced  by  vivid  interesting  stories  of  the 
experiences  of  other  children  in  earning  and  spend- 
ing money.  The  advantages  of  thrift  may  thus  be 
impressed  on  them.  With  children  a  little  older  true 
stories  of  the  lives  of  men  of  finance,  such  as  are 
found  in  the  books  of  Samuel  Smiles  and  in  Thayer's 
Ethics  of  Success,  may  be  used  with  good  results. 
Children  should  be  told  not  only  regarding  the  ways 
in  which  business  is  successfully  conducted,  but  may 
also  derive  many  excellent  and  impressive  moral 
lessons. 

Apply  Business  Methods  to  the  Child's  Affairs. 
— Children  may  be  asked  to  write  papers  on  How  I 
Get  Money  and  What  I  Do  With  It,  and  may  ex- 
press orally  or  in  writing  their  ideas  as  to  the  best 
ways  of  getting  and  spending  money.  They  may 
also  be  asked  to  estimate  as  nearly  as  they  can  how 
much  money  they  have  had  during  the  year,  and 
recall  for  what  things  they  have  spent  most  of  it. 
They  may  then  be  told  something  of  how  firms  and 
officials  of  town,  state  and  nation  make  out  budgets 
of  needed  expenditure.  They  may  then  be  asked  to 
make  out  a  budget  for  children  of  their  own  age  and 
financial  situation.  They  should  figure  what  an  al- 
lowance of  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents  a  week  will 


HOME   AND   COMMUNITY   LIFE     185 

amount  to  in  a  year.  The  boys  and  girls  should 
then  make  out  separate  budgets  showing  how  that 
amount  of  money  could  be  spent  to  the  best  advan- 
tage by  a  boy  and  by  a  girl.  These  budgets  should 
be  compared  with  each  other  until  each  pupil  has 
taken  account  of  everything  for  which  he  expects 
to  spend  money. 

They  may  make  estimates  on  a  weekly  or  monthly 
basis,  with  allowance  for  extras,  and  should  figure  to 
see  that  the  total  comes  out  right.  The  same  general 
headings  may  be  used  by  all,  but  the  items  under 
each  will  differ  greatly.  There  may  be  some  in- 
teresting discussions  as  to  whether  it  is  best  to  spend 
money  in  one  way  or  another,  but  it  should  be  rec- 
ognized that  some  persons  can  get  more  satisfaction 
in  one  way,  while  others  prefer  different  things. 

Probably  all  the  children  will  see  reasons  for  sav- 
ing, at  least  temporarily,  for  special  occasions  and 
for  costly  things.  Nearly  all  will  agree  that  a  por- 
tion of  their  money  should  also  be  saved  for  un- 
known contingencies  and  for  the  future.  The  pupils 
should  discuss  these  matters  and  in  making  up  a  bud- 
get allow  so  much  for  emergencies  and  for  perma- 
nent savings.  In  this  connection  they  may  discuss 
the  various  modes  of  keeping  money  that  may  be 
used  in  their  community,  such  as  toy  banks,  savings 
banks  or  cooperative  banks  (called  building  and 
loan  associations  in  some  places). 


186  JHE   USE    OF   MONEY 

They  should  also  be  shown  how  to  keep  their  per- 
sonal accounts  and  compare  them  with  the  budgets 
that  they  have  made  out.  By  such  practise  they  will 
be  able  to  plan  for  the  better  management  of  their 
affairs. 

Family  Budgets  May  Be  Studied. — It  is  a 
good  thing  to  have  children  make  out  an  estimate  of 
various  family  expenses,  such  as  rent,  light,  fuel, 
telephone  service,  food,  clothing,  etc.,  then  check  up 
their  estimates  by  inquiries  and  computation  of  the 
actual  cost.  They  may  also  consider  whether  it  is 
more  profitable  to  buy  ready-made  articles  of  cloth- 
ing or  to  buy  the  goods  and  make  them,  counting 
time  required  and  the  relative  wearing  qualities  of 
home-made  and  ready-made  clothing.  Studies  may 
be  made  of  the  relative  cost  of  periodicals  bought 
by  the  copy  or  by  the  year,  of  bread  and  cake  made 
at  home  and  bought  at  the  bakery,  etc. 

Investments  Should  Also  Be  Considered. — 
Problems  like  this  may  be  considered.  A  man  in  the 
neighborhood  has  an  income  of  perhaps  two  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  in  excess  of  the  amount  neces- 
sary for  his  expenses,  including  benevolences  and  a 
few  pleasures.  What  shall  he  do  with  it?  After 
suggestions  have  been  received  the  conclusion  will 
probably  be  reached  that  some  of  it  at  least  should 
be  saved.  How  much,  if  any,  shall  be  put  into  life 
insurance  and  how  much  laid  up  or  invested  in  some 


HOAIE  AND   COMMUNITY   LIFE     187 

way?  The  difference  between  straight  life  and  en- 
dowment policies  should  be  explained,  and  compari- 
son should  be  made  as  to  the  returns  from  an  en- 
dowment policy  and  the  interest  gained  by  putting 
money  in  a  savings  bank  or  a  cooperative  bank. 

Other  problems  of  the  family  may  be  studied.  Is 
it  best  to  buy  a  house  or  pay  rent?  The  children 
may  gather  data,  compute  and  discuss  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  renting  and  owning. 

Again  it  may  be  supposed  that  some  one  in  the 
community  who  is  not  able  to  earn  money  has  been 
left,  say,  ten  thousand  dollars.  How  shall  it  be  in- 
vested so  as  to  furnish  an  income  on  which  to  live? 
Savings  banks,  mortgages,  stocks,  bonds  and  the 
purchase  of  an  annuity  may  be  considered.  It  should 
be  emphasized  that  a  large  income  on  an  investment 
usually  means  less  safety  and  that  through  variety 
of  investment  there  is  a  better  chance  to  get  a  good 
income  without  the  probability  of  losing  any  large 
portion  of  the  principal. 

These  problems  will  give  good  financial  training 
in  proportion  as  the  children  regard  them  as  real 
problems  of  the  family  and  of  the  life  around  them. 

The  Study  of  the  Business  of  the  Community. 
— Children  may  profit  by  the  experience  of  the  peo- 
ple of  their  community  as  well  as  by  their  own  af- 
fairs and  those  of  their  family.  Typical  industries 
in  the  community  should  be  studied  and  typical  prob- 


188  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

lems  that  come  up  in  carrying  them  on  should  be 
solved  as  they  are  in  the  business.  In  a  community 
with  varied  industries  this  will  give  a  sufficiently 
broad  financial  training.  Where  the  industries  are 
very  few  the  children  should  make  a  thorough  study 
of  several  other  industries  in  connection  with  geog- 
raphy, then  figure  on  some  of  the  financial  problems 
that  have  to  be  solved  in  those  industries. 

The  idea  of  finding  the  problems  for  seventh-  and 
eighth-grade  pupils  in  the  industries  of  the  home 
community  has  been  very  intelligently  worked  out 
in  the  course  of  study  of  the  Indianapolis  schools. 
The  children,  after  learning  about  the  industries, 
solve  such  problems  as  the  following: 

"A  man  earns  $1.75  per  day.  He  pays  $1.50  a  week  for 
rent,  $1.00  for  fuel  and  $1.00  for  incidental  expenses.  Make  a 
list  of  groceries  which  his  wife  could  afford  to  order  during 
the  week  for  a  family  of  four.  She  should  be  able  to  save  a 
small  amount  each  week  for  clothing.  The  pupil  should  con- 
sult his  mother  before  making  his  list." 

"Make  out  a  bill  for  the  following  order  of  goods,  using 
prevailing  market  prices:  V/z  lbs.  pork  chops;  1  lb.  breakfast 
bacon ;  2  lbs.  coffee  at  $0.30 ;  granulated  sugar,  $0.25 ;  %  lb.  tea 
at  $0.60 ;  1  lb.  crackers ;  ^  pt.  oysters ;  14  pk.  string  beans ;  3 
stalks  celery;  1  doz.  eggs;  1  lb.  butter  (creamery);  1  lb. 
peaches." 

"A  housekeeper  having  canned  a  bushel  of  peaches  wants 
to  know  the  cost  per  can.  Find  it  if  a  bushel  of  peaches,  9  lbs. 
of  sugar,  100  cu.  ft.  of  gas  and  15  Mason  jars  were  used." 

"Find  the  cost  of  candy  made  according  to  the  following 
recipes  and  compare  the  cost  with  the  usual  selling  price  of 
similar  candy :  Peanut  Brittle— 1  pt.  of  shelled  roasted  peanuts ; 


HOME   AND   COMMUNITY   LIFE     189 

2  lbs.  of  granulated  sugar.  Stir  the  sugar  slowly  in  a  clean  fry- 
ing pan  over  a  slow  fire  until  it  melts  and  turns  a  light  brown 
color.  Then  quickly  stir  in  the  peanuts  and  pour  the  mixture 
out  on  a  buttered  pan  so  that  it  may  spread  out  thinly.  Mo- 
lasses Candy — 3  cups  of  light  brown  sugar;  1  cup  of  molasses; 
Yi  teaspoon  cream  of  tartar ;  small  piece  of  butter.  Estimate 
the  last  two  ingredients  at  $0.02.  Boil  until  brittle.  Then  pour 
out  on  a  buttered  plate,  and  after  it  is  cool,  pull  it." 

"Read  your  electric  meter  for  two  successive  months  and 
calculate  the  bill  at  $0.10  per  K.  W.  hour." 

"Louise  started  a  savings  account  at  ten  years  of  age  by 
saving  each  week  five  cents  of  her  spending  money.  She  con- 
tinued this  plan  for  eight  years.  How  much  did  she  save 
during  that  time?" 

"A  man  who  had  been  paying  $25  a  month  for  rent  bought 
a  house  for  $3000.  The  taxes  on  the  place  were  $50 ;  the  cost 
of  repairs,  $25  a  year;  the  cost  of  insurance,  $7.50,  and  the  in- 
terest on  his  money  $180  per  year.  How  much  did  he  save  a 
year  by  owning  his  own  home?" 

"George  Adams  purchased  a  corner  lot  for  $1,200.  He  was 
assessed  $300  for  street  and  sidewalk  improvements  by  the 
city,  and  was  taxed  $18  a  year  for  the  lot.  Two  years  after 
buying  he  sold  the  lot  for  $1,900.  What  was  his  per  cent,  of 
profit  on  the  total  investment?" 

"If  the  output  of  a  bakery  is  150,000  loaves  a  week  and 
$3,600  is  spent  for  flour,  $750  for  other  material,  and  $400  for 
labor,  what  is  the  average  cost  of  production  per  loaf?" 

"What  is  the  baker's  per  cent,  of  profit  on  each  loaf,  if  he 
sells  all  at  four  cents  a  loaf?" 

"If  the  price  of  flour  advances  from  $5.50  to  $7.50  a  bar- 
rel for  what  should  a  loaf  of  bread  which  previously  sold  for 
5  cents  be  sold  to  correspond  with  this  rise  in  the  price  of  the 
flour?" 

"If  a  quart  of  milk  which  contains  as  much  nutriment  xs 
13  oz.  of  sirloin  steak,  worth  $0.24  a  lb.,  is  sold  according  to 
food  value,  what  is  milk  worth  ?" 


190  JHE   USE   OF    MONEY 

"10.5  bushels  of  corn  and  10.5  bushels  of  oats  ground  to- 
gether and  one  ton  of  clover  hay  should  feed  a  cow  well 
for  80  days.  At  the  present  market  prices,  what  will  it  cost 
to  feed  a  cow  a  year  (365  days)  ?  Will  it  be  cheaper  to  feed 
the  cow  on  this  ration  throughout  the  year,  or  to  feed  it  for 
215  days  and  to  pasture  it  for  the  rest  of  the  year  at  $1.75  per 
month  ?" 

"In  this  city  on  a  certain  day  there  were  327  firemen,  in- 
cluding 96  officers.  What  was  the  weekly  salary  at  an  average 
of  $2.75  a  day?" 

"What  per  cent,  is  gained  by  bu}ang  6  pounds  of  buck- 
wheat flour  for  $0.25  instead  of  buying  it  at  $0.05  straight?" 

"In  1910  there  were  3,520  patients  at  the  hospital.  The 
total  expenses  for  the  year  were  $93,594.57.  What  was  the  per 
capita  expense?" 

"From  tax  receipt  for  1910:  Rate,  $2.17;  valuation  of 
property,  $5,860;  mortgage  exemption,  $500.  Find  amount  to 
be  paid  on  first  instalment.    Include  poll  tax." 

"The  following  number  of  books  were  loaned  at  the  library 
on  ten  consecutive  summer  days:  169,  212,  110,  187,  126,  140, 
127,  269,  141,  71.  What  is  the  average  daily  circulation  in  the 
summer  ?" 

"The  average  pay  of  trainmen,  per  100  miles,  is  as  follows : 
Conductor,  $3.90;  engineer,  $4.40;  baggageman,  $2.80;  brake- 
man,  $2.50.  Find  the  earnings  of  each  in  making  the  trip  to 
Chicago,  184  miles." 

"Find  the  cost  of  sending  620  pounds  of  goods  from  Buf- 
falo to  Indianapolis  at  $0.45  per  100  pounds." 

"Mr.  Jones  has  $34,200  to  invest.  He  invests  this  in  Belt 
Railway  stock  at  114.    How  many  shares  did  he  buy?" 

"If  he  should  receive  a  semi-annual  dividend  of  6%,  what 
is  his  annual  income  therefrom?" 


CHAPTER  XX 

HOW    UNCLE    SAM    IS    GIVING    HIS    BOYS    AND    GIRLS 
FINANCIAL    TRAINING 

Corn  Clubs  Give  a  Good  Kind  of  Financial 
Training. — Doctor  Seaman  A,  Knapp  tried  to  im- 
prove agricultural  conditions  in  the  South  through 
the  boys  and  girls.  In  so  doing  he  started  the  most 
effective  financial  training  that  is  being  carried  on 
anywhere  in  this  country.  To  demonstrate  this 
fully  we  must  refer  again  to  the  part  that  money 
plays  in  life,  and  must  describe  what  is  being  done 
in  boys'  and  girls'  clubs  under  the  direction  of  the 
agricultural  department  of  the  nation. 

Relation  of  Financial  and  Social  Progress. — 
In  the  ultimate  analysis  the  chief  source  of  wealth  is 
human  effort,  and  all  wealth  is  used  to  satisfy  hu- 
man desire.  Money  is  a  means  of  measuring  wealth 
and  of  transmuting  one  form  of  wealth  into  an- 
other. It  pays  for  effort  and  buys  satisfaction.  In- 
crease in  the  production  of  wealth  in  any  community 
makes  possible  all  the  enlightening  and  refining  in- 

191 


192  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

fluences  which  better  the  conditions  of  life.  A  fer- 
tile soil  makes  possible  a  liberal  expenditure  for  edu- 
cation. This  education  not  only  makes  labor  more 
efficient,  but  enables  the  people  to  maintain  and 
increase  soil  fertility.  This  in  turn  makes  possible 
a  higher  civilization,  better  training  and  more  of  the 
refinements  of  life. 

The  General  Education  Board,  which  sent  agents 
to  the  South  to  find  how  aid  could  best  be  given  to 
the  schools,  decided  that  the  only  permanently  ef- 
fective means  was  to  take  steps  toward  improving 
agriculture.  This  the  Board  and  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  have  been  doing,  largely  by  means  of 
agents  who  arrange  for  demonstration  farms  in  as 
many  communities  as  possible.  Railway  companies 
and  commercial  bodies  have  also  helped  to  improve 
agriculture  by  cooperating  and  by  offering  prizes. 

How  Boys'  Clubs  Help  Boys  Morally, — The 
boys'  clubs,  started  by  Doctor  Knapp,  help  not  only 
to  improve  the  farming  in  the  community,  but,  as  we 
shall  see,  they  also  produce  important  changes  in  the 
boys  themselves,  and  this  is,  of  course,  a  means  to 
further  advancement.  The  moral  effects  of  corn 
clubs  are  clearly  indicated  by  the  following  an- 
swers to  questions.  These  extracts  are  from  a  letter 
of  State  Agent  J.  R.  Fewell,  Tennessee: 

"I  do  not  know  of  any  boy  who  is  or  has  been  a 
member  of  the  corn  club  work  in  Tennessee  who 


UNCLE    SA:M   giving   training     193 

has  committed  any  offense  against  the  laws  of  the 
state. 

"The  com  club  work  gives  the  boy  something  to 
think  of  and  something  to  do.  Too  often  country 
boys  have  no  ambition,  no  incentive,  nothing  to 
think  about  and  nothing  to  do  in  leisure  hours  but 
to  sit  on  the  fence,  whistle,  whittle  or  smoke.  Of 
course  a  boy  in  this  condition  is  apt  to  get  into  mis- 
chief. The  club  work  is  more  interesting  than  his 
studies  and  he  often  enters  into  it  with  great  enthu- 
siasm. 

"Not  long  ago  I  was  at  Kingston,  Tennessee,  and 
a  gentleman  came  to  me  and  said,  'This  corn  club 
work  has  worked  a  miracle  in  my  boy.  I  had  never 
seen  him  sit  down  voluntarily  to  study  or  read ;  we 
always  had  to  force  him,  but  when  you  sent  him 
those  bulletins  and  letters  he  sat  right  down  and 
read  every  word  and  began  to  tell  his  grandmother 
about  what  he  had  read.  I  questioned  him  about 
the  bulletins,  and  he  understood  them  as  well  as  I, 
and  was  more  familiar  with  the  details.' 

"Last  spring  I  visited  a  community  to  organize  a 
corn  clul).  I  invited  all  of  the  boys  to  come  into 
the  building,  so  that  we  could  take  up  the  organiza- 
tion. While  the  teacher  was  making  his  intnuluc- 
tory  speech  I  lf)oked  through  the  window  and  saw  a 
boy  sitting  on  the  fence,  smoking.  I  thought  that 
pcrliaps  others  were  near  and  that  I  would  go  out 


194  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

and  give  them  a  personal  invitation  to  attend  the 
meeting.  As  I  approached  the  boy  he  threw  down 
his  cigarette  and  ran,  hiding,  and  finally  when  I 
found  him  he  was  crouched  behind  some  rocks  with 
a  rock  in  each  hand,  and  he  cried,  *Go  on  away  and 
let  me  alone,  I  ain't  bothering  anybody,  and  this 
ain't  the  school  land.'  After  I  explained  my  pur- 
pose and  the  corn  club  work,  he  replied,  'Well,  I 
would  like  to  join,  but  me  and  them  teachers  can't 
get  along.  They  sent  me  away  and  told  me  that  if 
I  ever  came  back  on  the  school  land  that  they  would 
have  me  arrested.'  By  that  time  the  teacher  inter- 
rupted us  and  stated  that  the  boy  had  some  trouble 
with  a  former  teacher,  but  that  he  had  no  ill  will 
against  him,  and  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have  him 
return  and  enter  the  club.  The  boy  reluctantly  con- 
sented, and  to  encourage  him  the  teacher  proposed 
that  the  club  elect  him  as  president.  The  last  time 
that  I  heard  from  this  boy  he  was  not  only  success- 
ful in  his  club  work,  but  was  leading  in  some  of  his 
studies." 

Other  state  agents  of  these  clubs  were  questioned 
as  to  the  moral  effects  of  the  club  work.  Not  one 
of  them  knew  of  a  boys'  club  member  who  had  ever 
been  arrested  while  a  member  or  subsequently  to 
membership.  The  following  are  some  of  the  opin- 
ions as  to  the  moral  effects  of  the  club  work. 


UNCLE    SAM   GIVING  TRAINING     195 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
by  the  state  agent  of  Alabama: 

"In  regard  to  the  bearing  of  this  work  on  the 
morals  of  the  boys  I  should  like  to  say  that  I  regard 
it  as  most  excellent.  I  think  that  you  will  fully  ap- 
preciate this  when  I  tell  you  that  the  work  has  been 
praised  and  universally  approved  by  the  clergy.  A 
number  of  the  leading  ministers  of  Alabama  have 
said  to  me,  'You  people  are  doing  the  greatest  piece 
of  work  for  the  moral,  economic  and  social  uplift  of 
our  people  of  anybody.'  " 

Extract  from  letter  written  by  state  agent  of  Mis- 
sissippi : 

"Many  boys  have  been  influenced  to  go  to  school, 
attend  regularly  and  to  take  an  enthusiastic  part  in 
the  agricultural  classes.  Rural  teachers  have  used 
the  corn  club  as  an  entering  wedge  to  get  closer  in 
touch  with  their  patrons,  that  they  might  be  able  to 
do  more  for  them.  Through  the  corn  club  agri- 
cultural teaching  has  been  made  more  effective.  The 
corn  club  has  helped  in  a  great  way  to  win  the  gen- 
eral public  for  better  homes  and  better  living  and  it 
is  preparing  a  generation  of  men  that  will  respect 
the  results  of  scientific  investigation  and  will  put 
them  into  practise.  Also,  it  is  preparing  a  genera- 
tion of  farmers  that  will  be  businesslike  in  their 
business  transactions.     The  corn  club  is  inspiring 


196  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

and  will  inspire  thousands  of  boys  to  go  to  college ; 
we  had  fifty-two  in  A.  and  M.  last  year.  The  corn 
club  is  breaking  down  the  prejudices  of  farmers 
against  business  men  or  those  of  more  fortunate 
business  careers,  and  is  creating  a  spirit  of  toler- 
ance and  brotherly  love." 

Extract  from  letter  written  by  state  agent  of 
Texas : 

"The  work  has  had  a  tendency  to  create  among 
the  boys  a  desire  for  an  education,  and  especially 
along  industrial  lines,  such  as  agriculture.  Any  in- 
creased desire  for  an  education  naturally  increases 
the  boy's  efficiency  in  the  schoolroom.  In  1912  the 
County  School  Superintendent  of  Comanche  County 
kept  accurate  data  of  the  general  average  of  grades 
made  in  school  by  club  members  and  by  other  pupils. 
He  found  that  club  members  made  twelve  per  cent, 
higher  grades  than  the  others.  The  work  has  di- 
rected attention  to  industrial  and  agricultural  col- 
lege training.  At  present  there  are  several  ex-mem- 
bers of  the  corn  club  attending  the  A.  and  M.  Col- 
lege of  Texas  and  other  educational  institutions. 
They  speak  with  pride  of  the  fact  that  they  were 
once  corn  club  boys.  The  dignity  and  respect  of 
farm  life  and  labor  has  been  increased  by  this  work." 

Extract  from  letter  written  by  state  agent  from 
West  Virginia : 

"The  club  work  in  West  Virginia  has  certainly 


UNCLE    SAM   GIVING   TRAINING     197 

proved  beneficial  to  the  morals  of  the  boys.  At  a 
meeting  the  other  day  I  asked  a  group  of  seventy- 
five  boys  (some  were  country  boys  and  some  were 
city  boys)  what  was  the  difference  between  the  town 
and  country  boy.  The  unanimous  opinion  was  that 
the  country  boy  had  something  to  occupy  his  mind 
all  the  time,  other  than  learning  bad  language  and 
loafing  and  many  other  of  the  very  tempting  habits 
that  city  boys  are  subject  to.  I  believe  that  one  of 
the  great  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  corn  club 
work  in  this  state  is  the  development  of  a  class  of 
men  on  our  farms  who  will  have  character  intensi- 
fied by  triumph  in  their  work.  They  have  learned 
how  to  increase  their  working  power,  how  to  be- 
come more  efficient,  and  consequently  more  produc- 
tive members  of  society,  thus  being  potent  factors  of 
better  citizenship  in  our  state." 

Why  the  Clubs  Succeeded. — One  of  the  chief 
reasons  why  the  effects  of  these  clubs  have  been  so 
great  is  to  be  found  in  the  homes  of  the  children. 
Previous  to  their  establishment  very  few  of  the 
children  had  ever  had  any  money  or  property  of 
their  own.  Since  ownership  and  the  power  that  it 
gives  are  the  most  potent  stimuli  to  effort,  it  is  not 
strange  that  rural  boys  and  girls,  without  such  own- 
ership, had  previously  shown  little  am])ition.  The 
mcmlxirship  of  a  corn  club  consists  of  boys  be- 
tween ten  and  eighteen,  and  the  primary  condition 


198 


THE   USE   OF   MONEY 


of  joining  is  that  they  have  a  piece  of  land  to  culti- 
vate, from  which  they  can  sell  the  product.  The  de- 
sire for  this  was  at  first,  and  still  is  to  some  extent, 
stimulated  by  prizes,  while  success  is  made  possible 
by  instructions  as  to  how  to  farm,  market  crops  and 
keep  accounts.  As  the  work  has  progressed  the 
large  prizes  of  cash  or  a  trip  to  Washington  for  the 
few  have  been  replaced  by  scholarships  for  further 
education  and  by  badges  of  achievement  for  the 
many. 

Profits  Gained.  —  The  artificial  prize  was 
needed  at  the  beginning,  but  the  natural  prizes  of 
profits  are  now  proving  effective.  These  in  many 
cases  are  very  large,  as  will  be  seen  from  some  fig- 
ures that  follow : 


A  FEW  OF  THE  PRIZE  WINNERS,  GIRLS'  CANNING  CLUBS. 


Name  of  Winner 

Address 

state 

Weight  of 

Fresh 
Tomatoes 

Weight 

of 

Cans 

Profit 

Erin  Westbrook. 

Fay  Parker 

Isabel  Davis 

Clyde  Sullivan... 

Odenville 
Beebe 

Sunitnerfield 
Ousley 

Alabama 
Arkansas 
Florida 
Georgia 

3,S65     lbs. 
1,267     lbs. 
8,086V4  lbs. 
5,854     lbs. 

1,855 
148 
902 

2,456 

$  88.25 
152.83 
108.14 
132.39 

The  profits  include  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
market  value  of  the  product,  extras  from  county 
fair  awards  and  from  the  sale  of  seed  at  fancy 
prices. 

In  1912  there  were  in  these  clubs  ninety  thousand 


UNCLE    SAM   GIVING   TRAINING     199 

boys  and  twenty-three  thousand  girls,  and  their  pro- 
ductions per  acre  were  much  above  those  of  the  adult 
farmers  of  the  neighborhood. 

SAMPLE  REPORTS  OF  BOYS'  CORN  CLUBS 

Average  Yield     Vield  per 
Number     Number  100      per  Acre  of  Acre  in 

State.  Reporting,    bu.  or  more.  Boys.  State  1913. 

Alabama 755  64  57.92  17 

Arkansas    ....     760  18  45  19 

Florida   246  5  46.25  15 

Georgia  3000  90  52  16 

Management  as  Well  as  Theory  of  Corn 
Clubs  Is  Good. — Real  financial  training  means 
a  pretty  broad  life  training.  It  involves  (1)  some 
motive  for  effort;  (2)  learning  how  effort  may  be 
directed  so  as  to  produce  the  most  money ;  (3)  learn- 
ing how  most  of  the  desirable  things  of  life  may  be 
obtained  with  this  money. 

Ownership  and  independent  control,  which  are 
the  first  conditions  of  membership  in  a  corn  club, 
furnish  the  motive,  and  this  is  strengthened  by 
prizes,  honors  and  success.  The  second  condition  is 
secured  by  means  of  instructive  leaflets  which  tell 
how  to  grow  and  market  crops  successfully  and  by 
supervision  and  advice  on  the  part  of  the  directors 
of  the  work.  The  instructions  regarding  the  pro- 
duction of  standard  products,  true  to  label,  empha- 
size a  very  important  business  principle  now  rccog- 


200  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

nized  by  all  persons  and  firms  who  do  business  with 
distant  and  personally  unknown  customers. 

The  third  form  of  financial  training,  that  of 
teaching  how  to  spend  money,  is  not  given  directly 
by  the  corn  clubs,  but  indirectly  it  is  given.  Those 
joining  the  club  learn  of  many  things  useful  and 
esthetic  in  modem  life  that  were  previously  un- 
known to  them.  The  encouragement  given  to  young 
people  to  go  to  agricultural  and  other  schools  results 
in  bringing  to  many  of  them  not  only  increased 
knowledge  of  how  to  make  money,  but  also  greatly 
broadened  ideas  as  to  how  it  may  be  spent. 

Marketing. — How  to  market  is  described  in 
circulars  and  further  assistance  is  given  by  furnish- 
ing standard  labels,  to  be  used  only  by  those  who 
have  fulfilled  the  required  conditions. 

Truthfulness  and  honesty  are  developed  by  hav- 
ing the  young  people  keep  definite  records  that  are 
properly  certified,  and  by  granting  awards,  labels  or 
brands  only  where  this  has  been  done  according  to 
directions. 

Cooperative  Club  Work. — The  work  is  made 
still  more  broadening  and  efifective  by  cooperating 
with  agricultural  societies,  commercial  organiza- 
tions, schools  and  societies  for  the  promotion  of 
thrift.  The  original  corn  clubs  were  extended  so 
that  now  there  are  a  variety  of  products  clubs,  some 
suited  for  small  city  yards  and  for  girls  as  well  as 


UNCLE    SAM   GIVING   TRAINING    201 

boys.  The  work  is  also  being  carried  on  in  the 
North  as  well  as  in  the  South.  Arrangements  are 
now  being  made  for  contests  covering  more  than 
one  year,  in  order  that  the  value  of  crop  rotation 
and  of  stock  raising  as  a  means  of  increasing  soil 
fertility  may  be  taught. 

Achievement  Clubs. — The  work  Is  now  being 
still  further  broadened  into  extra  or  superfinancial 
lines  by  the  establishment  of  "Achievement  Clubs." 
Badges  are  to  be  given  for  various  achievements 
that  mean  improvement  of  head,  hands,  heart  or 
health.  It  is  well  to  recognize  that  other  than  finan- 
cial achievements  are  worth  while,  but  some  fur- 
ther experimenting  will  be  necessary  before  we  can 
be  as  sure  of  the  best  methods  of  working  along 
this  line  as  we  are  in  the  financial  line.  In  no  other 
kind  of  effort,  except  perhaps  in  athletics,  do  we 
have  as  accurate  a  measure  of  achievements  as  in 
financial  affairs.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
the  attempt  to  make  a  record  in  some  lines,  espe- 
cially in  the  higher  forms  of  moral  action  where 
there  is  no  accurate  measure,  may  produce  acts  and 
states  of  mind  that  are  not  desirable.  Much  of  what 
is  outlined  for  achievement  contests  will  undoubt- 
edly give  good  results,  but  some  parts  may  need  to 
be  changed. 

All  the  common  forms  of  morality  may  be  taught 
in  connection  with  financial  training,  and  when  wc 


202  JHE   USE   OF   MONEY. 

have  a  fuller  knowledge  of  health  and  social  prob- 
lems in  relation  to  financial  affairs  it  may  be  that 
even  the  highest  forms  of  morality  may  be  developed 
in  connection  with  altruistic  effort  to  maintain  the 
health  and  happiness  of  laborers,  and  produce  effect- 
ive cooperation  in  economic  affairs  of  all  members 
of  the  community,  the  state,  the  nation  and  even 
the  world. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX* 

My  little  boy  is  given  a  cent  by  Petrine  with  in- 
structions to  go  to  the  baker's  and  buy  some  biscuits. 

By  that  which  fools  call  an  accident,  but  which 
is  really  a  divine  miracle,  if  miracles  there  be,  I  over- 
hear this  instruction.  Then  I  stand  at  my  window 
and  see  him  cross  the  street  in  his  slow  way  and 
with  bent  head ;  only  he  goes  slower  than  usual  and 
with  his  head  bent  more  deeply  between  his  small 
shoulders. 

He  stands  long  outside  the  baker's  window,  where 
there  is  a  confused  heap  of  lollipops  and  chocolates 
and  sugar-sticks  and  other  things  created  for  a  small 
boy's  delight.  Then  he  lifts  his  young  hand,  opens 
tke  door,  disappears  and  presently  returns  with  a 
great  paper  bag,  eating  with  all  his  might. 

And  I,  who,  Heaven  be  praised,  have  myself  l)ecn 
a  thief  in  my  time,  run  all  over  the  house  and  give 
my  orders. 

My  little  boy  enters  the  kitchen. 


*From  My  Little  Boy,  by  Carl  Ewald  (translated  by  Alex- 
ander Teixcira  dc  Mattos).  Here  reprinted  with  the  kind  per- 
mission of  the  publishers,  Messrs.  Charles  Scribncr's  Sons. 

205 


206  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

"Put  the  biscuits  on  the  table,"  says  Petrine. 

He  stands  still  for  a  moment  and  looks  at  her  and 
at  the  table  and  at  the  floor.  Then  he  goes  silently 
to  his  mother. 

"You're  quite  a  big  boy  now  that  you  can  buy  bis- 
cuits for  Petrine,"  says  she,  without  looking  up 
from  her  work. 

His  face  is  very  long,  but  he  says  nothing.  He 
comes  quietly  in  to  me  and  sits  down  on  the  edge  of 
a  chair. 

"You  have  been  over  the  way,  at  the  baker's?" 

He  comes  up  to  me,  where  I  am  sitting  and  read- 
ing, and  presses  himself  against  me.  I  do  not  look 
at  him,  but  I  can  perceive  what  is  going  on  inside 
him. 

"What  did  you  buy  at  the  baker's?" 

"Lollipops." 

"Well,  I  never !  What  fun !  Why,  you  had  some 
lollipops  this  morning.  Who  gave  you  the  money 
this  time?" 

"Petrine." 

"Really !  Well,  Petrine  is  certainly  very  fond  of 
you.  Do  you  remember  the  lovely  ball  she  gave  you 
on  your  birthday?" 

"Father,  Petrine  told  me  to  buy  a  cent's  worth  of 
biscuits." 

"Oh,  dear!" 

It  is  very  quiet  in  the  room.    My  little  boy  cries 


APPENDIX  207 

bitterly  and  I  look  anxiously  before  me,  stroking 
his  hair  the  while. 

"Now  you  have  fooled  Petrine  badly.  She  wants 
those  biscuits,  of  course,  for  her  cooking.  She 
thinks  they're  on  the  kitchen-table  and,  when  she 
goes  to  look,  she  won't  find  any.  Mother  gave  her 
a  cent  for  biscuits.  Petrine  gave  you  a  cent  for  bis- 
cuits and  you  go  and  spend  it  on  lollipops.  What 
are  we  to  do  ?" 

He  looks  at  me  in  despair,  holds  me  tight,  says  a 
thousand  things  without  speaking  a  word. 

"If  only  we  had  a  cent,"  I  say.  "Then  you  could 
rush  over  the  way  and  fetch  the  biscuits." 

"Father  .  .  ,"  His  eyes  open  very  wide  and  he 
speaks  so  softly  that  I  can  hardly  hear  him.  "There 
is  a  cent  on  mother's  writing-table." 

"Is  there?"  I  cry  with  delight.  But,  at  the  same 
moment,  I  shake  my  head  and  my  face  is  overcast 
again.  "That  is  no  use  to  us,  my  little  boy.  Tiiat 
cent  belongs  to  mother.  The  other  was  Pctrine's. 
People  are  so  terribly  fond  of  their  money  and  get 
so  angry  when  you  take  it  from  them.  I  can  under- 
stand that,  for  you  can  buy  such  an  awful  lot  of 
things  with  money.  You  can  get  biscuits  and  lolli- 
poi  s  and  clothes  and  toys  and  half  the  things  in  the 
world.  And  it  is  not  so  easy  either  to  make  money. 
Most  people  have  to  drudge  all  day  long  to  earn  as 
much  as  they  want.     So  it  is  no  wonder  that  they 


208  THE   USE   OF    MONEY 

get  angry  when  you  take  it.  Especially  when  it  is 
only  for  lollipops.  Now  Petrine  .  .  .  she  has  to 
spend  the  whole  day  cleaning  rooms  and  cooking 
dinner  and  washing  up  before  she  gets  her  wages. 
And  out  of  that  she  has  to  buy  clothes  and  shoes 
.  .  .  and  you  know  that  she  has  a  little  girl  whom 
she  has  to  pay  for  at  Madam  Olsen's.  She  must 
certainly  have  saved  very  cleverly  before  she  man- 
aged to  buy  you  that  ball." 

We  w^alk  up  and  down  the  room,  hand  in  hand. 
He  keeps  on  falling  over  his  legs,  for  he  can't  take 
his  eyes  from  my  face. 

"Father    .    .    .    haven't  you  got  a  cent?" 

I  shake  my  head  and  give  him  my  purse : 

"Look  for  yourself,"  I  say.  "There's  not  a  cent 
in  it.    I  spent  the  last  this  morning," 

We  walk  up  and  down.  We  sit  down  and  get  up 
and  walk  about  again.  We  are  very  gloomy.  We 
are  bowed  down  with  sorrow  and  look  at  each  other 
in  great  perplexity. 

"There  might  be  one  hidden  away  in  a  drawer 
somewhere,"  I  say. 

We  fly  to  the  drawers. 

We  pull  out  thirty  drawers  and  rummage  through 
them.  We  fling  papers  in  disorder,  higgledy-pig- 
gledy, on  the  floor:  What  do  we  care?  If  only,  if 
only  we  find  a  cent .... 

Hurrah ! 


APPENDIX  209 

We  both,  at  last,  grasp  at  a  cent,  as  though  we 
would  fight  for  it  .  .  .  we  have  found  a  beauti- 
ful, large  cent.  Our  eyes  gleam  and  we  laugh 
through  our  tears. 

"Hurry  now,"  I  whisper.  "You  can  go  this  way 
.  .  .  through  my  door.  Then  run  back  quickly  up 
the  kitchen  stairs,  with  the  biscuits,  and  put  them  on 
the  table.  I  shall  call  Petrine,  so  that  she  doesn't 
see.    And  we  won't  tell  anybody." 

He  is  down  the  stairs  before  I  have  done  speak- 
ing.   I  run  after  him  and  call  to  him : 

"Wasn't  it  a  splendid  thing  that  we  found  that 
cent?"  I  say. 

"Yes,"  he  answers,  earnestly. 

And  he  laughs  for  happiness  and  I  laugh  too  and 
his  legs  go  like  drumsticks  across  to  the  baker's. 

From  my  window,  I  see  him  come  back,  at  the 
same  pace,  with  red  cheeks  and  glad  eyes.  He  has 
committed  his  first  crime.  He  has  understood  it. 
And  he  has  not  the  sting  of  remorse  in  his  soul  nor 
the  black  cockade  of  forgiveness  in  his  cap. 

The  mother  of  my  little  boy  and  I  sit  until  late 
at  night  talking  about  money,  which  seems  to  us  the 
most  difficult  matter  of  all. 

For  our  little  boy  must  learn  to  know  the  power 
of  money  and  the  glamour  of  money  and  the  joy  of 
money.  I  le  must  earn  much  money  and  .spend  much 
money.    .    .    . 


210  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

Yet  there  were  two  people,  yesterday,  who  killed 
a  man  to  rob  him  of  four  dollars  and  thirty-seven 
cents.    .    .    . 

It  has  been  decreed  in  the  privy  council  that  my 
little  boy  shall  have  a  weekly  income  of  one  cent. 
Every  Sunday  morning,  that  sum  shall  be  paid  to 
him,  free  of  income-tax,  out  of  the  treasury  and  he 
has  leave  to  dispose  of  it  entirely  at  his  own  pleasure. 

He  receives  this  announcement  with  composure 
and  sits  apart  for  a  while  and  ponders  on  it. 

"Every  Sunday?"  he  asks. 

"Every  Sunday." 

"All  the  time  till  the  summer  holidays?" 

"All  the  time  till  the  summer  holidays." 

In  the  summer  holidays,  he  is  to  go  to  the  coun- 
try, to  stay  with  his  godmother,  in  whose  house  he 
was  pleased  to  allow  himself  to  be  born.  The  sum- 
mer holidays  are,  consequently,  the  limits  of  his 
calculations  of  time:  beyond  them  lies,  for  the  mo- 
ment, his  Nirvana. 

And  we  employ  this  restricted  horizon  of  ours  to 
further  our  true  happiness. 

That  is  to  say,  we  calculate,  with  the  aid  of  the 
almanac,  that  if  everything  goes  as  heretofore,  there 
will  be  fifteen  Sundays  before  the  summer  holidays. 
We  arrange  a  drawer  with  fifteen  compartments 
and  in  each  compartment  we  put  one  cent.    Thus 


APPENDIX  211 

we  know  exactly  what  we  have  and  are  able  at  any 
time  to  survey  our  financial  status. 

And,  when  he  sees  that  great  lot  of  cents  lying 
there,  my  little  boy's  breast  is  filled  with  mad  de- 
light. He  feels  endlessly  rich,  safe  for  a  long  time. 
The  courtyard  rings  with  his  bragging,  with  all 
that  he  is  going  to  do  with  his  money.  His  special 
favorites  are  invited  to  come  up  and  view  his  treas- 
ure. 

The  first  Sunday  passes  in  a  normal  fashion,  as 
was  to  be  expected. 

He  takes  his  cent  and  turns  it  straightway  into  a 
stick  of  chocolate  of  the  best  sort,  with  almonds  on 
it  and  sugar,  in  short,  an  ideal  stick  in  every  way. 
The  whole  performance  is  over  in  five  minutes :  by 
that  time,  the  stick  of  chocolate  is  gone,  with  the 
sole  exception  of  a  remnant  in  the  corners  of  our 
mouth,  which  our  ruthless  mother  wipes  away,  and 
a  stain  on  our  collar,  which  annoys  us. 

He  sits  by  me,  with  a  vacant  little  face,  and 
swings  his  legs.  I  open  the  drawer  and  look  at  the 
empty  space  and  at  the  fourteen  others: 

"So  that's  gone,"  I  say. 

My  accent  betrays  a  certain  melancholy,  which 
finds  an  echo  in  his  breast.  But  he  does  not  deliver 
himself  of  it  at  once. 

"Father    ...    is  it  long  till  next  Sunday?" 

"Very  long,  my  boy;  ever  so  many  days." 


212  THE   USE   OF   MONEY; 

We  sit  a  little,  steeped  in  our  own  thoughts.  Then 
I  say,  pensively: 

"Now,  if  you  had  bought  a  top,  you  would  per- 
haps have  had  more  pleasure  out  of  it.  I  know  a 
place  where  there  is  a  lovely  top :  red,  with  a  green 
ring  around  it.  It  is  just  over  the  way,  in  the  toy- 
shop. I  saw  it  yesterday.  I  should  be  greatly  mis- 
taken if  the  toyman  was  not  willing  to  sell  it  for  a 
cent.    And  you've  got  a  whip,  you  know." 

We  go  over  the  way  and  look  at  the  top  in  the 
shop-window.    It  is  really  a  splendid  top. 

"The  shop's  shut,"  says  my  little  boy,  despond- 
ently. 

I  look  at  him  with  surprise : 

"Yes,  but  what  does  that  matter  to  us  ?  Anyway, 
we  can't  buy  the  top  before  next  Sunday.  You  see, 
you've  spent  your  cent  on  chocolate.  Give  me  your 
handkerchief:  there's  still  a  bit  on  your  check." 

There  is  no  more  to  be  said.  Crestfallen  and 
pensively,  we  go  home.  We  sit  a  long  time  at  the 
dining-room  window,  from  which  we  can  see  the 
window  of  the  shop. 

During  the  course  of  the  week,  we  look  at  the  top 
daily,  for  it  does  not  do  to  let  one's  love  grow  cold. 
One  might  so  easily  forget  it.  And  the  top  shines 
always  more  seductively.  We  go  in  and  make  sure 
that  the  price  is  really  in  keeping  with  our  means. 
We  make  the  shopkeeper  take  a  solemn  oath  to  keep 


APPENDIX  213 

the  top  for  us  till  Sunday  morning,  even  if  boys 
should  come  and  bid  him  much  higher  sums  for  it. 

On  Sunday  morning,  we  are  on  the  spot  before 
nine  o'clock  and  acquire  our  treasure  with  trembling 
hands.  And  we  play  with  it  all  day  and  sleep  with 
it  at  night,  until,  on  Wednesday  morning,  it  dis- 
appears without  a  trace,  after  the  nasty  manner 
which  tops  have. 

When  the  turn  comes  of  the  next  cent,  something 
remarkable  happens. 

There  is  a  boy  in  the  courtyard  who  has  a  skip- 
ping-rope and  my  little  boy,  therefore,  wants  to  have 
a  skipping-rope  too.  But  this  is  a  difficult  matter. 
Careful  inquiries  establish  the  fact  that  a  skipping- 
rope  of  the  sort  used  by  the  upper  classes  is  no- 
where to  be  obtained  for  less  than  five  cents. 

The  business  is  discussed  as  early  as  Saturday: 

"It's  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world,"  I  say.  "You 
must  not  spend  your  cent  to-morrow.  Next  Sun- 
day you  must  do  the  same  and  the  next  and  the  next. 
On  the  Sunday  after  that,  you  will  have  saved  your 
five  cents  and  you  can  buy  your  skipping-rope  at 
once." 

"When  shall  I  get  my  skipping-rope  then?" 

"In  five  Sundays  from  now." 

He  says  nothing,  but  I  can  see  that  he  does  not 
think  my  idea  very  brilliant.  In  the  course  of  the 
day,  he  derives,  from  sources  unknown  to  mc,  an 


214  THE    USE    OF    MONEY 

acquaintance  with  financial  circumstances  which  he 
serves  up  to  me  on  Sunday  morning  in  the  follow- 
ing words : 

"Father,  you  must  lend  me  five  cents  for  the  skip- 
ping-rope. If  you  will  lend  me  five  cents  for  the 
skipping-rope,  Til  give  you  forty  cents  back.  .  .  ." 

He  stands  close  to  me,  very  red  in  the  face  and 
quite  confused.  I  perceive  that  he  is  ripe  for  falling 
into  the  claws  of  usurers : 

"I  don't  do  that  sort  of  business,  my  boy,"  I  say. 
"It  wouldn't  do  you  any  good  either.  And  you're 
not  even  in  a  position  to  do  it,  for  you  have  only 
thirteen  cents,  as  you  know." 

He  collapses  like  one  whose  last  hope  is  gone. 

"Let  us  just  see,"  I  say. 

And  we  go  to  our  drawer  and  stare  at  it  long  and 
deeply. 

"We  might  perhaps  manage  it  this  way,  that  I 
give  you  five  cents  now.  And  then  I  should  have 
your  cent  and  the  next  four  cents    .    .    ." 

He  interrupts  me  with  a  loud  shout.  I  take  out 
my  purse,  give  him  five  cents  and  take  one  cent  out 
of  the  drawer: 

"That  won't  be  pleasant  next  Sunday,"  I  say, 
"and  the  next  and  the  next  and  the  next.    .    .    ." 

But  the  thoughtless  youth  is  gone. 

Of  course,  the  instalments  of  his  debt  are  paid  off 


APPENDIX  215 

with  great  ceremony.  He  is  always  on  the  spot  him- 
self when  the  drawer  is  opened  and  sees  how  the 
requisite  cent  is  removed  and  finds  its  way  into  my 
pocket  instead  of  his. 

The  first  time,  all  goes  well.  It  is  simply  an 
amusing  thing  that  I  should  have  the  cent ;  and  the 
skipping-rope  is  still  fresh  in  his  memory,  because 
of  the  pangs  which  he  underwent  before  its  pur- 
chase. Next  Sunday,  already  the  thing  is  not  quite 
so  pleasant  and,  when  the  fourth  instalment  falls 
due,  my  little  boy's  face  looks  very  gloomy: 

"Is  anything  the  matter?"  I  ask. 

"I  should  so  much  like  a  stick  of  chocolate,"  he 
says,  without  looking  at  me. 

"Is  that  all  ?  You  can  get  one  in  a  fortnight.  By 
that  time,  you  will  have  paid  for  the  skipping-rope 
and  the  cent  will  be  your  own  again." 

"I  should  so  much  like  to  have  the  stick  of  choc- 
olate now." 

Of  course,  I  am  full  of  the  sincerest  compassion, 
but  I  can't  help  it.  What's  gone  is  gone.  We  saw 
it  with  our  own  eyes  and  we  know  exactly  where  it 
has  gone  to.  And,  that  Sunday  morning,  we  part 
in  a  dejected  mood. 

Later  in  the  day,  however,  I  find  him  standing 
over  the  drawer  with  raised  eyebrows  and  a  pursed- 
up  mouth.     I  sit  down  quietly  and  wait.     And  I  do 


216  THE   USE   OF   MONEY 

not  have  to  wait  long  before  I  learn  that  his  de- 
velopment as  an  economist  is  taking  quite  its  normal 
course. 

"Father,  suppose  we  moved  the  cent  now  from 
here  into  this  Sunday's  place  and  I  took  it  and 
bought  the  chocolate-stick    .    .    ." 

"Why,  then  you  won't  have  your  cent  for  the 
other  Sunday." 

"I  don't  mind  that,  father.     ..." 

We  talk  about  it,  and  then  we  do  it.  And,  with 
that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  we  enter  upon  the  most 
reckless  peculations. 

The  very  next  Sunday,  he  is  clever  enough  to  take 
the  furthest  cent,  which  lies  just  before  the  summer 
holidays.  He  pursues  the  path  of  vice  without  a 
scruple,  until  the  blow  falls  and  five  long  Sundays 
come  in  a  row  without  the  least  chance  of  a  cent. 

Where  should  they  come  from?  They  were 
there.  We  know  that.  They  are  gone.  We  have 
spent  them  ourselves. 

But,  during  those  drab  days  of  poverty,  we  sit 
every  morning  over  the  empty  drawer  and  talk  long 
and  profoundly  about  that  painful  phenomenon, 
which  is  so  simple  and  so  easy  to  understand  and 
which  one  must  needs  make  the  best  of. 

And  we  hope  and  trust  that  our  experience  will 
do  us  good,  when,  after  our  trip,  we  start  a  new  set 
of  cents. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Carus,  Paul — Our  Children,  pp.  34-39. 

Dinsmore,  Blanche — Ought  Children  to  be  Paid 
for  Domestic  Serz'ice.  Barnes'  Studies  in  Educa- 
tion, vol.  ii,  pp.  62-70. 

Ewald,  Carl — My  Little  Boy. 

Forbush,  W.  B. — Vol.  iv,  of  Parents  and  Their 
Problems. 

Kirkpatrick,  E.  A. — The  Individual  in  the  Mak- 
ing, pp.  2l0-2\2. 

Kohler,  Anna — Children's  Sense  of  Money,  in 
Barnes'  Studies  in  Education,  1896-97,  pp.  323-331. 

Kratz,  H.  E. — Studies  and  Observation  in  the 
Schoolroom,  pp.  61-74. 

Lambert,  Agnes — Thrift  Among  the  Children. 
Nineteenth  Century,  April,  1886,  vol.  xix,  pp.  539- 
560. 

Lisman,  F.  J. — Primer  of  Finance. 

Monroe — The  Money  Sense  of  Children.  Peda- 
gogical Seminary,  vol.  vi,  pp.  152-158. 

Newton,  Bessie  C. — Money  and  the  Child.  Amer- 
ican Motherhood,  September,  1910,  pp.  200-202. 

219 


220  USE   OF   MONEY 

Oberhaltzer,  Mrs.  S.  L. — School  Savings  Banks. 
United  States  Bulletin  of  Education,  1914,  No.  46. 

Oulton,  W. — School  Savings  Banks.  Interna- 
tional Congress  on  Education,  London,  1884,  vol.  ii, 
pp.  623-628. 

Palmer,  Gertrude — Earnings,  Spendings  and  Sav- 
ings of  School  Children.  The  Commons,  June, 
1903. 

Smiles,  Samuel — Thrift.    May,  1875,  p.  404. 

Thayer — Ethics  of  Success. 

Thiry,  J.  H. — Schools  Savings  Banks.  Addresses 
and  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion, 1893,  p.  286. 

Walter,  John  T. — Thrift  Lessons.  London,  1881, 
p.  240. 

Wiltse,  Sara  E. — Learning  to.  Use  Money,  The 
Place  of  the  Story  in  Early  Education,  pp.  93-98. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ACADEMIC  IDEAS  OF  ARITHMETIC,  134-136. 

ACCOUNTS:  108-115 ;  garden,  151,  152,  186;  community,  168- 
170;  school  organizations,  181. 

ACHIEVEMENT  CLUBS,  201,  202. 

ADOLESCENCE :   sensitiveness,  55  ;  and  earning,  68,  69. 

ALLOWANCE:  19,  20,  22,  39,  100,  101,  104,  105,  119,  174; 
regular,  52-59 ;  not  common,  52,  53 ;  amount  and  pur- 
pose, 53-55 ;  should  not  be  a  wage,  57,  58;  typical,  58,  59. 

AMERICAN  MOTHERHOOD,  11. 

APPENDIX.  203. 

ARITHMETIC  AND  FINANCIAL  TRAINING:  133-148; 
with  a  motive,  149-169. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY,  217. 

BICYCLE,  66,  67,  82. 

BIRTHDAYS,  Zl,  47,  84,  91,  105. 

BOOKKEEPING,  163,  178. 

BRADLEY:  what  he  owed,  62-64. 

BUDGETS,  106,  185,  186. 

BUSINESS:   of  children,  72-77;  and  arithmetic,  136-141  ;  and 

make-believe,  160-162;  methods  in  child's  affairs,  184. 
BUYING :  training  in,  102,  103. 

CHICAGO,  39,  60. 

CHILD  LABOR.  70. 

CHILD'S  WISHES  TO  BE  RESPECTED,  32-35. 

CHOOSING,  38. 

CHRISTMAS,  34,  35,  Zl,  43.  46,  79,  91,  105,  174. 

CLOTHES:  buying  by  children.  99-107. 

CLUBS:     corn,    74.    192-202;    tomato,    74;    boys',    192-202; 

achievement.  201,  202. 
COMMUNISM:    in  home  finances,  116-121. 
COMMUNITY:    accounting  in  school,  168-170;  and  home  in 

financial   training,   183-190;   business  and  school  arith- 

mrtic,  187-190;  welfare.  191. 
COOPERATIVE  CLUB  WORK,  200,  201. 
CUMMINGS.  128. 
CURRIER,  177. 

223 


224  INDEX 

DEBT.  55,  56.  80.  81. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  IDEAS  OF  MONEY,  9-17. 

EARNING  MONEY:  60-71.  105;  significance  of,  6-8;  knowl- 
edge of  spending  earlier  than,  36;  typical  examples, 
76,  n. 

EDGERLY.  169. 

EWALD,  203. 

FAMILY.  AND  USE  OF  MONEY,  22-24,  27,  28. 

FARMING.  IZ. 

FEWELL  192 

FINANCIAL  COMMUNISM.  116-121. 

FINANCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY,  86-98. 

FINANCIAL  TRAINING:  86.  91,  92.  119,  120,  139,  149,  173, 
187,  199;  importance  of.  1-8;  problem  of,  7,  8;  should 
begin  early,  16;  usual.  18-31 ;  family  affairs  as  means  of, 
22-24;  ownership  and,  24,  25;  and  arithmetic,  133-148; 
incidental  and  intentional,  171-182 ;  opportunity  greater, 
176-180;  home  and  community  life  in,  183-190;  Uncle 
Sam  and.  191-202. 

FITCHBURG,  162,  169.  180. 

FORMULATING  PROBLEMS.  146-148. 

FREEDOM  IN  WORKING,  64,  65. 

GARDEN  ACCOUNTS,  150,  177. 
GARDENING,  150. 

GENERAL  EDUCATION  BOARD.  192. 
GEORGE  JUNIOR  REPUBLIC,  180,  181. 
GIFTS,  46,  49,  59,  80. 

HABIT.  43,  66. 

HIGH-SCHOOL  AGE,  41.  \ 

HYANNIS,  177. 

IDEAS   OF  MONEY:    development  of,  9-17;   early,   9-13; 

generalized,  13-15  ;  concrete,  13-15  ;  and  cost  of,  15-17. 
INDIANAPOLIS.  188. 
INDIVIDUALITY,  42.  118. 
INSTITUTIONS  FOR  SAVING,  125-132. 
INSURANCE,  186. 
INTEREST,  140. 
INVEST.  82. 
INVESTMENTS,  186. 


INDEX  225 

JOYS:   financial,  32-35. 
JUSTICE,  89. 

KNAPP,  192. 

LOAN,  56. 

LOS  ANGELES.  180. 

LOUISVILLE,  178. 

MAKE-BELIEVE  AND  REAL  BUSINESS.  160-162. 

MARKETING,  200. 

MILLS.  179. 

MONEY:  importance  in  present-day  life,  2-4;  use  not  evi- 
dent to  children,  4,  5 ;  real  place  in  life,  4,  5 ;  moral  sig- 
nificance of,  6;  development  of  ideas  of,  9-17;  getting 
it  by  irregular  gifts,  46-51 ;  children  like  to  earn,  60,  61 ; 
related  to  other  things,  120. 

MORALS  AND  BOYS'  CLUBS.  192-197. 

MORAL  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  MONEY:  6;  training  in  use 
of  money,  20-22. 

OGDEN.  179. 

OWNERSHIP.  24,  25,  87,  88. 
OVERPAYMENT,  61. 

PALMER,  60,  79. 
PAY  :   for  what,  62,  69,  70. 
PAYMENT.  49.  55. 
PRACTISE.  154. 
PRACTICAL  TRAINING,  152. 
PUNISHMENT,  89,  97. 

RESPONSIBILITY:  75.  102.  104;  financial,  of  children,  86- 
98;  assuming,  91,  92;  for  luncheon,  155-158;  for  school 
repairs,  158,  159. 

SALARY  OR  PIECE  WORK,  65-67. 

SAVING:    78-85,  129-131;  parents  encourage,  78;  intelligent, 

79-82;  modes  of,  82-85;  institutions  for,  125-1.?2. 
SCHOOL:     banking,    127;    saving    banks.   29,    82,    127.    128; 

finances,  159;  problems.  162. 
SCHOOLS:    supplies  in,  171-176;  promote  savings,  127. 
SIOUX  CITY,  16.  17. 
SMILES,  SAMUEL,  184. 


226  INDEX 

SOCIETIES  FOR  SAVING,  125,  126. 

SORROWS :  financial,  32-35. 

SPENCER,  98. 

SPENDING  MONEY:  36-45,  129,  130;  broader  significance 
of,  6-8;  knowledge  precedes  earning,  36;  freedom  in, 
37-39 ;  methods  of,  39,  40 ;  amount,  40,  41 ;  immediate 
and  delayed,  41,  42;  usual,  42,  43;  and  will  training, 
43-45. 

SUGGESTIONS,  107,  148,  170,  182. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL,  84. 

THAYER,  184. 
THRIFT,  80,  184. 
TIPS,  48. 

UNCLE  SAM  AND  FINANCIAL  TRAINING.  191-202. 

WILL  TRAINING,  43. 

WORK:  supervision  of,  67,  68;  outside  of  home,  70,  71;  esti- 
mating cost  of,  164. 

YOUNG  CHILDREN,  99. 


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THE  "teen  age"  is  the  critical  age.  Boys  and 
girls  cause  parents  and  teachers  more  anxiety 
between  thirteen  and  twenty  than  at  any  other 
time.  That  is  the  period  of  adolescence — the 
formative  stage,  the  high-school  age,  the  turning 
point  when  futures  are  moulded. 

It  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  period  at  which  tlie  boy  and  the  girl 
are  most  baffling  and  difficult  to  handle;  when  an  ounceof  di- 
plomacy can  accomplish  more  with  them  than  a  pound  of  dictum. 

As  a  specialist  and  an  authority,  Professor  Irving  King 
has  prepared  a  veritable  handbook  on  parental  and  peda- 
gogical diplomacy  which  will  ease  the  way  of  parents  and 
teachers  in  dealing  with  children  during  the  formative 
period  and  lead  to  far  better  results.  He  devotes  special 
attention  to  the  question  of  co-education  and  the  question 
of  handling  mature,  maturing  and  immature  children  of  the 
same  age.  He  clears  up  the  problems  so  confusing  to  the 
adult  mind  and  offers  helpful  suggestions. 

The  physical  changes  which  take  place  during  the  early  ado- 
lescent age;  the  intellectual  and  emotional  developments  which 
parallel  them;  and  questions  of  health  and  school  work  as  well 
as  practical  matters  pertaining  to  the  conservation  of  the  energy 
and  efficiency  of  high-school  pupils  are  given  full  consideration  in 

The  High-School  Age 

By  IRVING  KING 

Assistant  Professor  of  Education,  University  of  Iowa;  author  of 
Psychology  of  Child  Development,  Etc. 

No  parent  or  teacher  can  read  this  work  without  feeling  a 
keener  appreciation  of  the  vital  period  in  the  child's  life  and 
■without  being  assisted  to  a  better  understanding  of  how  to  deal 
most  wisely  with  the  boy  or  girl  who  is  passing  rapidly  from 
childhood  to  maturity. 

THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  AGE  is  one  of  the  books  in  the 
CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  SERIES,  undoubtedly  the 
most  important  collection  of  practical  educational  works 
for  parents  and  teachers  ever  produced  in  this  country. 
As  a  guide  for  the  home  or  school  it  is  unexcelled. 

12mo,  Cloth,  One  Dollar  Net 

The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 

Publishers,  Indianapolis 


CAN  your  child  spell?  Spelling  takes  more  at- 
tention in  the  home  than  almost  any  other 
subject  taught  in  the  schools.  The  drills  and  prac- 
tice exercises,  the  daily  preparation  for  subsequent 
work  in  the  class-room  call  for  the  parent's  co- 
operation. 

No  subject  taught  in  the  schools  requires  more  Individual  at« 
tentioa  ttian  Spelling,  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  who  is  continu- 
ally confronted  with  new  problems  as  to  how  best  the  subject  may 
be  presented  to  meet  individual  differences  on  the  part  of  pupils. 

William  A.  Cooii,  Assistant  Professor  of  Education  In 
the  University  of  Colorado,  and  M.  V.  O'Sliea,  Professor  of 
Education  in  tlie  University  of  Wisconsin,  have  conducted 
a  series  of  investigations  extending  over  a  considerable 
period,  with  a  view  to  contril^iiting  to  the  solution  of  the 
various  problems  connected  with  the  teaching  of  spelling. 

First,  an  examination  of  the  spelling  history  and  abilities  oi  a 
large  number  of  pupils  in  a  ratlier  general  way  was  carried  on. 
Second,  a  study  was  made  of  a  small  group  in  a  very  thorougli- 
going  manner.  Third,  followed  an  examination  of  al)out  ;!()(), 000 
words  in  common  usage,  both  in  speech  and  correspondence,  in 
order  to  determine  which  words  should  receive  atteutiou  in  tlic 
spelling  vocabulary. 

The  Child  and  His  Spelling 

By  WILLIAM  A.  COOK  and  M.  V.  O'SHEA 

contains  the  results  of  these  experiments,  and  presents  a  thor- 
ougiigoing,  i)ractical)le  exjilanation  of(i;the  psychology  of  spell- 
ing; (2)  effective  inetliods  of  ti-acliing  spilling;  (;»)  spelling  need! 
of  typical  Americans;  (4)  words  pupils  should  learn. 

The  material  contained  in  The  Child  and  His  .Spelling 
will  be  found  of  the  greatest  value  to  teachers  and  to  par- 
ents who  desire  to  co-()perate  at  lioine  with  the  work  of 
the  .school  in  tiie  education  of  iliildnn.  lliis  work  con- 
stitutes one  volume  of  the  CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH 
SERIES. 

Vhno,  Cloth,  One  Dollar  Set 

The  Robb.s-Mcrrill  Company 

publishers,  Indianapolis 


GET  in  tune  with  childhood.  Take  the  chil- 
dren's point  of  view.  Find  how  work  and 
play  may  be  united  in  their  lives  in  happiest  and 
most  effectual  combination.  See  how  the  monot- 
ony of  the  daily  "grind"  may  be  broken  and  lively, 
wholesome,  compelling  interest  be  aroused  in 
home  study,  school  work  and  tasks  of  the  day. 

Successful  learning  depends  on  successful  teaching.  The  roman' 
tic  spirit  of  youth  revolts  against  constraint,  and  the  teacher,  b* 
he  parent  or  pedagogue,  can  succeed  in  educating  the  child  only 
by  establishing  between  himself  and  his  pupil,  the  proper  sym- 
pathetic relation. 

Edgar  James  Swift,  Professor  of  Psychology  and  Educa- 
tion, Washington  University,  St.  Louis,  after  years  of  ex- 
tended experiment,  has  learned  waj's  and  means  of  accom- 
plishing this  and  has  collected  a  vast  amount  of  valuable 
information  concerning  methods  of  turning  to  educational 
advantage  the  adventurous  overflow  of  youthful  energy. 

He  shows  how  home  and  school  studies  may  take  on  a  vital 
relation  to  the  actual  daily  life  of  children  and  how  enthusiasm 
for  their  work  may  be  inculcated  in  the  young.  All  this  is  told, 
in  a  manner  to  quicken  the  interest  of  parents  and  teachers,  ia 

Learning  and  Doing 

By  EDGAR  JAMES  SWIFT 
Author  of  Mind  in  the  Making,  Etc. 

Make  the  child  as  happy  in  his  work  as  he  is  in  his  play  by  find- 
ing how  you  can  appeal  to  his  individual  interests,  tendencies 
and  intellectual  traits,  and  how  the  learner  may  be  taught  with 
the  least  resistance  and  greatest  efficiency. 

This  is  precisely  the  book  for  every  parent  and  teacher 
who  wants  to  make  study  a  pastime  and  not  a  drudgery. 
It  is  included  in  the  Childhood  and  Youth  Series,  the 
important  new  collection  of  books  for  parents  and  teachers. 

12mo,  Cloth,  One  Dollar  Net 

The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 

Publishers,  Indianapolis 


AUTHORS  OF  BOOKS  IN  THE 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  SERIES 

SARAH  LOUISE  ARNOLD 

Dean  of  Simmons  College,  Boston ;  author  of  Waymarks  for  Teach- 
ers, Stepping  Stones  to  Literature,  Etc. 

J.  CARLETON  BELL 

Professor  of  the  Art  of  Teaching,  University  of  Texas;  Managing 
Editor,  The  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology. 

FREDERICK  ELMER  BOLTON 

Dean,  School  of  Education,  University  of  Washington;  author  o( 
The  Secondary  School  System  of  Germany,  Etc. 

MARY  MARTHA  BUNNELL 

Instructor  in  Home  Economics,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

C.  WARD  CRAMPTON 

Director  of  Physical  Education,  New  York  City  Public  Schools, 
author  of  Physiological  Age. 

JESSE  B.  DAVIS 

F'rlncipal  of  Onlnil  High  School,  .nnd  Voralionid  Director,  Grand 
Rapids;  author  of  Vocational  and  Moral  Guidance. 

JASPER  NEWTON  DEAHL 

Professor  of  Education,  West  Virginia  University. 

J.  CLAUDE  ELSOM 

Assistant  Professor  of  Phygical  Education,  The  University  of 
Wisconsin. 

J.  J.  FINDLAY 

Professor  of  Education,  University  of  Manchester,  England;author 
of  Arnold  of  Hughy,  The  School,  Etc.,  Etc. 

ARNOLD  L.  GESELL 

Dcpartincnf  of  I-'ducation,  Yale  University;  author  of  The  Normal 
Child,  Primary  Education. 

MICHAEL  F.  GUYER 

Professor  of  Zoology,  Tin;  University  of  Wisconsin;  aullior  of 
Animal  Micrology. 

COLONEL  L.  R.  GIGNILLIAT 

Superintendent  The  Culver  Military  Academy,  Culver,  Ind. 

WILLIAM  IIEALY 

Director  .Invenile  Psyrliop.-illilr  Inslitnle,  Chicago;  Astorlnle  Pro- 
fessor of  Nervous  iind  Meiilril  Diseases,  Chicago  I'oliclinic;  In- 
structor Harvard  Summer  School. 

W.  H.  HECK 

Professor  of  ICduration.  I'niversily  of  Virginia;  aulhor  of  Mrnlnl 
Diiciplinc  and  Educational  Values,  Etc. 

The  Bobbs-Mcrrill  Company 

Tublishcrs,  Indianapolis 


AUTHORS  OF  BOOKS  IN  THE 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  SERIES 

FLORENCE  HOLBROOK 

Principal  of  the  Forestville  School,  Chicago;  author  of  Round  the 
Year  in  Myth  and  Song,  Studies  in  Poetry,  Etc. 

DAVID  STARR  JORDAN 

Chancellor  of  Stanford  University ;  author  of  Care  and  Culture  of 
Men,  Footnotes  to  Evolution,  Etc.,  Etc. 

C.  A.  McMURRY 

Director  of  Normal  Training,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  DcKalb, 
Illinois;  author  of  A  Series  of  General  and  Special  Methods  in 
School  Work. 

JUNIUS  L.  MERIAM 

Professor  of  School  Supervision,  University  of  Missouri ;  author  of 
Normal  School  Education,  Etc. 

JAMES  T.  NOE 

Professor  of  Education,  University  of  Kentucky. 

RAYMOND  RIORDON 

Director  of  tlie  Raymond  Riordon  School,  on  Chodikee  Lake,  N.  Y.; 
author  of  Lincoln  Memorial  School  — A  New  Idea  in  Industrial 
Education,  Etc. 

WALTER  SARGENT 

Professor  of  Art  Education,  University  of  Chicago;  author  of  Fine 
and  Industrial  Arts  in  the  Elementary  Schools. 

FRANK  CHAPMAN  SHARP 

Professor  of  Philosophy,  The  University  of  Wisconsin  ;  author  of 
Shakespeare's  Portrayal  of  tiie  Moral  Life,  Etc. 

ALFRED  E.  STEARNS 

Principal  of  Phillips  Academy.  Andover,  Mass.;  author  of  various 
articles  in  tlie  Atlantic  Montlily,  Outlook,  Etc. 

WINTHROP  ELLSWORTH  STONE 

President  Purdue  University;  Member  of  the  Iiuliana  Stale  Roard 
of  Education. 

THOMAS  A.  STOREY 

Professor  of  Hygiene,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  Secretary 
Fourth  International  Congress  on  School  Hygiene. 

M.  H.  STUART 

Principal  Manual  Training  High  School,  Indianapolis. 

BLANCHE  M.  TRILLING 

Director  of  Women's  Gymnasium,  The  University  of  Wisconsin. 

GUY  MONTROSE  WHIPPLE 

Assistant  Professor  of  Educational  Psychology,  Cornell  University; 
author  of  Questions  in  Psychology,  Etc. 

The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 

Publishers,  Indianapolis 


The  Childhood  and  Youth  Series 

NATURAL  EDUCATION 
Mrs.   Stoner  explains  the  metliods  by  which  she  made  her 
daughter  "the  best  developed  child  in  America"  mentally,  mor- 
ally and  physically;  the  simple  yet  astonishing  methods  which 
make  for  the  health,  happiness  and  wisdom  of  any  normal  child. 

By  MRS.  WINIFRED  SACKVILLE  STONER 
Director-General  Women's  International  Health  League 

LEARNING  AND  DOING 
The  way  to  learn  how  to  run  an  automobile  is  by  running  it. 
Professor  Swift  shows  how  this  practical  principle  may  be  ap- 
plied to  history,  literature  and  lanj^uajje-study.  A  book  that 
breaks  up  monotony  in  teacliing,  stirs  enthusiasm,  makes  the 
parent  and  teacher  see  the  child  s  point  of  view. 

By  EDGAR  JAMES  SWIFT 

Professor  of  Psycholof^y  and  K(hicati<>ii,  Wasliington 

University;  author  of  Miiulin  tlie  Making,  Etc. 

THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  SPELLING 

Can  your  child  spell?  Business  and  professional  men  think 
the  children  of  this  generation  poor  spellers.  What's  the  trouble 
with  the  way  spelling  is  taugiit  at  home  and  in  sciiool?  The 
authors  of  this  booli  make  a  simple  but  scicntiUc  analysis  of  the 
whole  question. 

By  WILLIAM  A.  COOK 

Assistant  Professor  of  Eiiucation,  University  of  Colorailo;  and 

M.  V.  OSHEA 

Professor  of  Education,  University  of  Wisconsin 

THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  AGE 
The  "teen  age"  is  llic  critical  age,  the  dangerous  age  of  ado- 
lescence, when  tlie  future  of  tiie  child's  life  is  laigely  determined 
and  tlie  bending  of  ti>e  twig  inclines  tlie  tree.  Professor  King  here 
shows  parent  and  teaclier  how  to  solve  the  difficult  and  all-iin- 
portaut  problems  of  this  crisis. 

By  IRVING  KING 

Professor  of  Edunilioii,  Uiiivcrsily  of  Iowa  ;  nulhor  of 

Psychology  of  Cliilil  Devilopincnt,  Etc. 

Each  volume  with  Sjiecial  Iiiti-oduclion  by  the  General  ICditor, 
M.  V.  O'Shea,  Analytical  Table  of  Contents,  Carefully  Selected 
Lists  of  Hooks  for  Reference,  Further  Reading  and  Study,  and  a 
Full  Index. 

Each,  12nio,  Cloth,  One  Dollar  Set 

The  B()l)l)s-Mcrrill  Company 

Publishers,  Indianapolis 


The  Childhood  and  Youth  Series 

THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

A  practical  treatment  of  the  causes  of  juvenile  delinquency  and 
methods  of  its  prevention,  by  one  who  has  extensive  experience 
in  dealing  with  the  young. 

By  MRS.  FREDERIC  SCHOFF 

President  National  Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher 

Association;  President  Philadelptiia  Juvenile  Court 

and  Probation  Association  ;  Collaborator,  Home 

Education  Division,  Bureau  of  Education 

FEAR 
A  comprehensive,  concrete  discussion  of  (1)  psychology  of  fear; 
(2)  varieties  of  fears  found  normally  in  childhood  and  youth;  (3) 
ways  in  which  fears  are  expressed  and  their  effects;  (4)  treatment 
of  fear  in  home  and  school. 

By  G.  STANLEY  HALL 

President  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Mass.;  author  of 

Adolescence,  Educational  Problems,  Etc. 

SELF-HELP 
Practical  aid  to  parents  and  teachers  in  teaching  children  to 
do  things  for  themselves,  written  by  a  mother,  teacher  and  keen 
student  of  Madame  Montessori,  Froebel,  Pestalozzi,  et  al. 

By  DOROTHY  CANFIELD  FISHER 
Author  of  A  Montessori  Mother,  English.Compositionof  Rhetoric.  Etc. 

THE  USE  OF  MONEY 

How  to  train  the  young  to  appreciate  (1)  what  money  repre- 
resents  in  labor  and  privilege  ;  (2)  how  it  may  best  be  expended. 

By  E.  A.  KIRKPATRICK 

Head  of  Department  of  Psj'chology  and  Child-Study,  State  Normal 

School,  Fitchburg,  Mass.;  author  of  Fundamentals  of 

Child-Study,  The  Individual  in  the  Making,  Etc. 

THE  BACKWARD  CHILD 
A  volume  dealing  witli  the  causes  of  backwardness  among  chil- 
dren and  also  the  technique  of  determining  when  a  child  is  back- 
ward, and  practical  methods  of  treating  him. 

By  ARTHUR  HOLMES 

Dean  of  the  General  Faculty,  Pennsylvania  State  College; 

author  of  The  Conservation  of  the  Child,  Etc. 

Each  Volume  With  Special  Introduction  By  the  General  Editor,  M.  V. 
O'Shea,  Analytical  Table  of  Contents,  Carefully  Selected  Lists  of  Books 
for  Reference",  Further  Reading  and  Study,  and  a  Full  Index. 

Each,  12mo,  Cloth,  One  Dollar  Net 

The  Bobbs-Merrill  Company 

Publishers.  Indianapolis 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •   Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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